Shakespeare on the Edge: Border-crossing in the Tragedies and the HenriadWhen Shakespeare's John of Gaunt refers to England as 'this sceptred isle', he glosses over a fact of which Shakespeare's original audience would have been acutely conscious, which was that England was not an island at all, but had land borders with Scotland and Wales. Together with the narrow channels separating the British mainland from Ireland and the continent, these were the focus of acute, if intermittent, unease during the early modern period. This book analyses works by not only Shakespeare but also his contemporaries to argue that many of the plays of Shakespeare's central period, from the second tetralogy to Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello, engage with the idea of England's borders. But borders, it claims, are not only of geopolitical significance: in Shakespeare's imagination and indeed in that of his culture, eschatological overtones also accrue to the idea of the border, not least because the countries of the Celtic fringe were often discussed in terms of the supernatural and fairy lore and, in particular, the rivers which were often used as boundary markers were invested with heavily mythologized personae. exploring the spiritual uncertainties of the period, and for speculating on what happens in 'the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns'. At the same time, the idea that a thing can only really be defined in terms of what lies beyond it provides a sharply interrogating charge for Shakespeare's use of metatheatre and for his suggestions of a world beyond the confines of his plays. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 19
Page 9
... Catholics . I am not assuming that Shakespeare himself was a Catholic , a matter which seems to me not susceptible of definitive proof , the growing push to link him with Catholic Lancastrian families notwithstanding ( and I note that ...
... Catholics . I am not assuming that Shakespeare himself was a Catholic , a matter which seems to me not susceptible of definitive proof , the growing push to link him with Catholic Lancastrian families notwithstanding ( and I note that ...
Page 42
... Catholic : Gerard Kilroy , for instance , suggests a Catholic perspective when he compares Laertes being spied on in Paris with the way that Catholics and suspected Catholics were spied on there . Kilroy also points to the presence in ...
... Catholic : Gerard Kilroy , for instance , suggests a Catholic perspective when he compares Laertes being spied on in Paris with the way that Catholics and suspected Catholics were spied on there . Kilroy also points to the presence in ...
Page 123
... Catholic than Edgar does.38 The fact that King Lear seems to have been performed by recusants39 indicates the extent to which it can be read as having Catholic sympathies . It also seems that Shakespeare when writing the play might ...
... Catholic than Edgar does.38 The fact that King Lear seems to have been performed by recusants39 indicates the extent to which it can be read as having Catholic sympathies . It also seems that Shakespeare when writing the play might ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actually already appear argues associated become borders boundaries Britain British called Cambridge Catholic certainly choice clear clearly close course cultural death Denmark Desdemona Earl Early Modern echoes edited Edward Elizabeth Elizabethan England English fact father figure France further garden geographical George Greene Hamlet heaven Henry human Iago idea identity imagines important instance interest Ireland Irish island Isle Italy James John King Lear land landscape later Leicester literal Literature London Lord Macbeth Manchester marches Marlowe means nature never notes offers Othello Oxford particularly perhaps play points political present Prince Queen question reference remarks Renaissance Richard rivers Robert says scene Scotland Scots Scottish seems seen sense Shakespeare similar spiritual story Studies suggests things thought Tragedy turn University Press Wales wall Welsh writing