DOCSLIB.ORG

Conscience As a Phenomenon in Shakespeare's Richard III And

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Conscience As a Phenomenon in Shakespeare's Richard III And Conscience as a Phenomenon in Shakespeare’s Richard III and Macbeth Olav Rian A Thesis Presented to the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, the University of Oslo in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Master’s Degree Autumn Term 2005 Advisor: Juan Christian Pellicer Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Juan Christian Pellicer who, with his enthusiasm and interest in Shakespeare, has encouraged me and put me back on track many times during this process. Thank you for your patience. I would also like to thank Domhnall Mitchell, Jeremy Hawthorne and the other staff members at the English department at NTNU, who first got me interested in literature studies and Shakespeare studies. Many thanks go to Charles Moseley, Eugene Giddens and all lecturers and staff members at the Shakespeare Summer School programme at Cambridge University. Thank you for an inspiring course, and for sharing your wisdom and experience. I would also like to thank Erik Karlsaune, lecturer in comparative religion and sociology at NTNU, who was under no obligation to help me and comment on my theories, but did so anyway. Muchas gracias to Dag Flem Mæland, Dagfinn Karlsen and Sølve Sjeg, my good friends. Without your wonderful example of actually finishing your theses I doubt I would have been able to finish this one. Thank you, Dagfinn, for valuable close reading. I would also like to thank Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, who have been a great inspiration in my work, haunting my sleep and prolonging my days. May they rest in peace, and may God have mercy on their dark souls. A very special thank you goes to my dear wife Carene, who has supported me throughout this process. I am very grateful and fortunate to have such a caring and loving best friend. Olav Rian Fredrikstad, October 2005 1 Table of Contents List of Abbreviations.................................................................................................................. 3 List of Illustrations ..................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................4 Chapter One: Variants of Conscience in Shakespeare............................................................. 14 1.1. Conscience as Inward Knowledge, Deliberation or Opinion........................................ 15 1.2 Transferred Applications of the Word............................................................................ 19 1.3. Puns on Guilt and Gilt................................................................................................... 26 1.4 Other Metaphors and Images ......................................................................................... 29 1.5 The Functions of Conscience ......................................................................................... 31 1.6 The Location of Conscience........................................................................................... 33 1.7 Challenging the Relevance of Conscience: The Tempest............................................... 35 Chapter Two: The Theatrical Tradition ................................................................................... 39 2.1 The Character of the Vice .............................................................................................. 40 2.2 Richard’s Demonic Ancestry: His Father’s Son ............................................................ 43 2.3 The Development of the Composite Villain .................................................................. 45 2.4 Conscience as a Character.............................................................................................. 48 2.5 Developments in Characterization ................................................................................. 50 Chapter Three: Conscience as a Phenomenon in Richard III and Macbeth............................. 56 3.1.1 The Autonomy of Conscience in Richard III: Conscience as an External Agent... 57 3.1.2 Internalization of Conscience in Macbeth: Conscience as Feeling......................... 64 3.2 Ethical Psychology: William Perkins on Conscience and Melancholy ......................... 65 3.3 Conscience as Witness or Shared Knowledge ............................................................... 83 3.4.1 Free Will, Determination, and Conscience ............................................................. 88 2 3.4.2 The Conflict between Conscience and Will............................................................ 93 3.5 The Role of the Equivocator ........................................................................................ 101 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 106 Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 109 List of Abbreviations OED: Oxford English Dictionary Online, 2nd edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Geneva Bible: The Geneva Bible : a Facsimile of the 1560 Edition, introd. by Lloyd E. Berry (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969). Tilley: Tilley, Morris Palmer, A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: a Collection of the Proverbs Found in English Literature and the Dictionaries of the Period (Anne Arbor: 1950). All quotations from the works of William Shakespeare are, with the exception of specific references to other editions, taken from: The Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd edition, gen. ed. G. Blakemore Evans (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997). List of Illustrations Ill. A, p. 60: ‘Råd og Uråd’, Donald Duck & Co, 32 (Hjemmet – Bladforlaget: 1980), 7. Ill. B, p. 60: ‘Sirkusdilla’, Donald Duck & Co, 14 (Hjemmet – Bladforlaget: 1984), 7. Ill. C, p. 78: The N-Town Plays: A Facsimile of British Library MS Cotton Vespasian D VIII, introduction by Peter Meredith and Stanley J. Kahrl (Leeds: University of Leeds, 1977), p. 178, I. Ill D, p. 78: The N-Town Plays, p. 176, I. 3 Introduction In the early stages of working with this thesis, I set out with a desire to investigate John S. Wilks’s claim that ‘a gradual metamorphosis is discernable in the treatment of the idea of conscience from the substantially scholastic form that it takes in the works of Shakespeare, to a predominantly reformist conception in the works of his later contemporaries and Jacobean successors’.1 The initial project was to disprove Wilks’s claim, by showing that while conscience in Richard III conformed to a medieval, scholastic notion of conscience, conscience in Macbeth seemed to be much more influenced by reformist theology and ideology. In retrospect, I do not believe either claim is true, or that it is possible to make a sufficiently convincing argument for any of them. I think Wilks and I posed the wrong question, one which is impossible to answer: Why is conscience represented differently in Richard III and Macbeth? The evidence of cultural, political, religious, and censorial influences on Shakespeare is scarce. There is no evidence of autobiographical references to conscience in Shakespeare’s work, and we cannot know how the context of the plays affected the treatment of themes: Richard III is set in England in the late fourteenth century and it is difficult to establish how its treatment of conscience is bound by the historical treatment in More, Hall, and Holinshed. Does Shakespeare present us with a fourteenth-century or a late sixteenth-century notion of conscience? Macbeth, set in Scotland in the eleventh century, may have left Shakespeare freer to develop his own ideas about conscience, as he relied less than in Richard III on his sources in shaping the characters and plot of the play. This apparent creative freedom may suggest that Shakespeare presents us with a more contemporary notion of conscience and the workings of the mind, but it remains difficult to ascertain the impact of 1 John S. Wilks, The Idea of Conscience in Renaissance Tragedy (London: Routledge, 1990), p. 6. 4 the stricter censorship of the Jacobean period.2 The different contexts of Richard III and Macbeth make a comparison very difficult, at least as long as the question is why conscience is presented as it is. The appropriate question must be how conscience is presented differently, which has led me to a phenomenological treatment of conscience. The purpose is to investigate how conscience is presented, what the properties of conscience are, and how it affects the actions and the state of mind of the characters. There is little recent critical work on conscience in Shakespeare’s plays; the most recent thorough analysis is John S. Wilks’s The Idea of Conscience in Renaissance Tragedy. Wilks draws an ideological distinction between Shakespeare’s ‘scholastic’ notion of conscience and his later contemporaries’ ‘reformist’ conception of the same. According to Wilks, Shakespeare is informed by the scholastic concept of Natural Law as the universal moral order, and sees conscience as a faculty of the mind which witnesses the trespassing of Natural Law: This conception [of transcendental order] released [Shakespeare] to a consideration of justice organically conceived, by which man is punished by his sins, rather than for his sins, and by which the Old Testament theology of the Chroniclers
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Criminal Types in Shakespeare August Goll
    Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 30 Article 4 Issue 1 May-June Summer 1939 Criminal Types in Shakespeare August Goll Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation August Goll, Criminal Types in Shakespeare, 30 Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology 22 (1939-1940) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. CRIMINAL TYPES IN SHAKESPEARE JUDGE AUGUST GOLL Translated from the Danish by Julius Moritzen, 4003 Foster Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. This is the third and concluding portion of Mr. Moritzen's translation. The first portion was published in No. 4 of this volume, November-December, 1938; the second in No. 5, January-February, 1939.-[Ed.] RICHARD III Herbert Spencer in his book on righteousness and justice de- clares their aim to be that state of society where each member, without relinquishing his individual liberty of action, nevertheless tolerates the bonds that the rights of others demand of him. In other words, the principle of mutual respect for the rights of others underlies the social formula to which he subscribes. The criminal denies by his acts this ideal. But none of the criminals so far discussed are directly opposed to the fundamentals of this ideal state when judged by their actions.
    [Show full text]
  • Shakespeare and Metatheatrical Representation
    Shakespeare and Metatheatrical Representation Perry McPartland Shakespeare and Metatheatrical Representation Dissertation for the degree philosophiae doctor University of Agder Faculty of Foreign Languages and Translation 2020 Doctoral dissertations at the University of Agder 303 ISSN: 1504-9272 ISBN: 978-82-8427-005-0 Perry McPartland, 2020 Print: 07 Media, Kristiansand Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank the University of Agder for the financial and material support given to this project. Particular thanks must go to the staff of the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation for their expertise and generosity over the three years that I have been working on this dissertation. I must also express my gratitude for the research grant which enabled me to spend nine valuable months working at Det norske institut i Roma, and to also thank the staff there for their friendliness and professionalism. Enormous thanks must go to my supervisors. My original supervisor, Professor Roy Tommy Eriksen, passed away April 2019. He is very much missed. I benefited greatly from his model of academic dedication as well as from his gracious companionship. Subsequently, Professor Per Sivefors took on the role as my main supervisor, and Professor Oddvar Holmesland became my assistant supervisor. I am deeply indebted to both for the insight and support they have provided as well as for their camaraderie. Thanks must also go to Professor Stuart Sillars who supervised my MA thesis at Bergen University. His acumen and intellectual generosity set me on the path which has culminated in the present study, and I was fortunate enough to benefit from these qualities again when he acted as the opponent for my 90 percent seminar.
    [Show full text]
  • RICHARD III by William Shakespeare Directed by Ian Gallanar February 10 – March 5, 2017 Thank You High Sparks of Honor in Thee Have I Seen
    RICHARD III By William Shakespeare Directed by Ian Gallanar February 10 – March 5, 2017 Thank You High sparks of honor in thee have I seen. - Richard II Sponsors Funders Mayor Catherine E. Pugh & the City of Baltimore This production has been funded by Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts The William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund creator of the Baker Artist Awards | www.bakerartistawards.org Media Partners 2 RICHARD III Richard’s Revival A Note from the Founding Artistic Director Richard III is a remarkable play. The history in it is not very good. Shakespeare compresses events at will. The idea of who the protagonist and antago- Ian Gallanar. Photo by Theatre nists are in this play might not match the historical record. Consultants Collaborative Inc. The play is not as deeply moving or profound as King Lear or Hamlet. Instead, what makes this play great are Shakespeare’s craftsmanship and innovation. Richard, Duke of Gloucester is one of the greatest anti-heroes in the theater. Shakespeare prac- tically invents for the stage the notion that our main fi gure can be villainous and yet, somehow, likable. Why? Because he’s entertaining, he’s funny, he’s wicked, and he speaks to us directly. The anti-hero is a creation that has stood the test of time. My favorite period of Shake- speare in performance is the era in which troupes of actors toured the California gold rush towns. Their productions were deeply important to these guys in the middle of nowhere trying to strike it rich.
    [Show full text]
  • 38 Eve Wersocki Morris, Q33606, Pp. 359-67
    ‘He had a Horse Called Bill’ (Yellow Sky): The Appropriation of Shakespeare in the Western. Eve Wersocki Morris Studying film from the perspective of genre theory requires analysis of cinematic techniques and contextual culture (filmic and social). Christine Gledhill claims that genre provides ‘a framework of structuring rules […] which act as a form of ‘supervision’ over the work of film-makers and the work of reading by an audience’.1 This definition indicates that each genre adheres to a fixed hierarchal form. Alternatively, Anthony Easthope argues that genre should be understood as an abstract, theoretical structure, which is transformed by each new production so ‘any instance of a genre will be necessarily different’.2 Easthope implies that the ‘structuring rules’ are not fixed but allow filmmakers ideological concerns and social and cultural environments to influence their individual films and aid in developing the genre framework itself. My essay shall adhere to this latter argument. In agreement with Easthope, Mary Bandy and Kevin Stoehr have argued that, post- World War Two, the Western experienced a ‘gradual transformation of genre’3 towards more ‘psychologically expressive Westerns’4 which was due to the public’s desire for darker subject matter. Alan Lovell specifies that these new Westerns did not alter the genre but simply imposed ‘a new sensibility on the old forms’,5 retaining the classic wild west scenery of the 19th Century American frontier. Andre Bazin has called these new Westerns ‘superwesterns’6 and Lovell refers to them as ‘adult westerns’.7 However, for the purposes of this essay, I shall be adopting Bandy’s term ‘psychological western’ because of its explicit allusions to the increased interest in exploring characters’ inner struggles.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tragedy of King Richard III by William Shakespeare
    1 Shakespeare – live The Tragedy of King Richard III by William Shakespeare Historical background The real-life Richard III was born in1485. He was Edward IV’s brother and Richard, Duke of York’s third son. Upon Edward’s death in 1483 he imprisoned his nephews in the Tower of London, announced that they had died there and proclaimed himself King of England. In 1485 Richard III was killed during the Battle of Bosworth Field, at the hand of Henry Tudor (Earl of 5 Richmond) who was later to become Henry VII. In the period after his death Richard was often portrayed negatively, attacked or defamed in literary and historical accounts, particularly Thomas More’s ‘History of Richard III’, which was also a source for Shakespeare’s play. Later historians have attempted to clear his name to some degree, notably Horace Walpole in his 10 ‘Historic Doubts on the Life and Death of Richard III’. However, Richard III remains one of the most controversial figures in English history. The play The Tragedy of King Richard III is considered a historical tragedy. After Hamlet, it is Shakespeare’s second longest drama and yet it is one of his most often performed plays. There are at least half a dozen film versions of the play, in which some of the stage’s best actors have played major roles. 15 The drama unfolds in five acts, beginning with the exposition and the complication of the plot within the first two acts. Typically, the climax comes at the end of Act III. The dénouement and the finale follow in the remaining two acts.
    [Show full text]
  • SOLILOQUIES and the EVOLUTION of CHARACTER in RICHARD III and HAMLET by AMANDA JEANNETTE SEELY a Thesis Submitted to the Honors
    Soliloquies and the Evolution of Character in Richard III and Hamlet Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Seely, Amanda Jeannette Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 21:03:20 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/244795 SOLILOQUIES AND THE EVOLUTION OF CHARACTER IN RICHARD III AND HAMLET By AMANDA JEANNETTE SEELY A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelor's Degree With Honors in English THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MAY 2012 Peter Medine Department of English STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Signed (J.ffut The University of Arizona Electronic Theses and Dissertations Reproduction and Distribution Rights Form Name (Last, First, Middle) Degree title (eg BA, BS, BSE, BSB, BFA): Honors area (eg Molecular and Cellular Biology, English, Studio Art): Date thesis submitted to Honors College: Title of Honors thesis: :The University of I hereby grant to the University of Arizona Library the nonexclusive Arizona Library Release worldwide right to reproduce and distribute my dissertation or thesis and abstract (herein, the "licensed materials"), in whole or in part, in any and all media of distribution and in any format in existence now or developed in the future.
    [Show full text]
  • The Hollow Crown: the Wars of the Roses
    STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 3 MAY 2016 The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses Henry VI Part I, Henry VI Part II and Richard III Following 2012's critically acclaimed BAFTA winning first series, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses is the concluding part of an ambitious and thrilling cycle of Shakespeare's Histories filmed for BBC Two, comprising Henry VI Part I & II, and Richard III, and featuring the very best of British on-screen talent. A Neal Street Co-Production with Carnival / NBC Universal and Thirteen for BBC STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 3 MAY 2016 Synopses Henry VI Part I Henry V is dead, and against the backdrop of Wars in France the English nobles are beginning to quarrel. News of defeat at Orleans reaches the Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Protector, and other nobles in England. Henry VI, still an infant, is proclaimed King. Seventeen years later the rivalries at Court have intensified; Gloucester and the Bishop of Winchester argue openly in front of the King. Rouen falls to the French but Plantagenet, recently restored as the Duke of York, Exeter and Talbot pledge to recapture the city from the Dauphin. Battle commences and the French, led by Joan of Arc, defeat the English. Valiant Talbot and his son John are killed. Warwick and Somerset arrive after the battle to join forces with the survivors and retake Rouen. Somerset woos Margaret of Anjou as a potential bride for Henry VI. Plantagenet takes Joan of Arc prisoner and she is burnt at the stake. Gloucester protests but still Margaret is introduced as Henry's queen.
    [Show full text]
  • The Battle of Good and Evil in Shakespeare
    Rollins College Rollins Scholarship Online Master of Liberal Studies Theses Summer 2015 The aB ttle of Good and Evil in Shakespeare Erin K. Miller [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Miller, Erin K., "The aB ttle of Good nda Evil in Shakespeare" (2015). Master of Liberal Studies Theses. 70. http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/70 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Rollins Scholarship Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Liberal Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of Rollins Scholarship Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Battle of Good and Evil in Shakespeare A Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Liberal Studies by Erin Miller July 2015 Mentor: Dr. Patricia Lancaster Reader: Dr. Jennifer Cavenaugh Rollins College Hamilton Holt School Master of Liberal Studies Program Winter Park, Florida 2 Introduction Drama through the ages—from the Greeks’ Oedipus Rex to the morality plays of the Middle Ages —centers on an exploration of the human condition. In antiquity, religious celebrations to honor the gods and appeal for their favor gradually give birth to Greek theater, and these early plays, most of which are tragedies, focus on man’s suffering. What starts as the impact of fate on the life of man becomes, by the Middle Ages, a religious spectacle centered on evil’s impact on man. The Church of the Middle Ages frames the battle as a conflict of vice and virtue through stories in the life of Christ.
    [Show full text]
  • Between the Lines Audience Guide: Insights and Reflections on the Production the History Cycle at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: the Story So Far
    PRESENTS: Directed by Brian Isaac Phillips Between the Lines Audience Guide: Insights and Reflections on the Production The History Cycle at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: The Story So Far Richard II: King Richard II is a vain, aloof king, more concerned with acquiring money and power than ruling England, and so he is deposed by his younger cousin, who declares himself King Henry IV. Unrest ferments. Henry IV (adapted from Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2): Henry IV’s reign is marred by infighting and rebellion. Henry struggles to control his dilettante son and heir, Hal, until a revolt threatens the kingdom and Hal rises to the occasion. Unrest ferments. Henry V: The layabout Prince Hal has grown into the warrior- Brent Vimtrup and king Henry V, and leads a successful military campaign to Sara Clark as Richard II and Queen Isabella. capture a part of France for English rule. Henry is loved by his Photo by Rich Sofranko. people and unrest, for a moment, is quieted. Henry VI: The Wars of the Roses, Part 1 (adapted from Henry VI, Justin McCombs as Parts 1 and 2): Henry V dies young and England’s crown is left Henry V. to his infant son, Henry VI. The English court descends into infighting and chaos. English control over France is lost. Another member of the royal family, the Duke of York, challenges young Henry VI’s claim to the throne. Unrest ferments. Darnell Pierre Henry VI: The Wars of the Roses, Part 2 (adapted from Henry VI, Parts 2 and 3): Civil Benjamin as Henry VI.
    [Show full text]
  • The Implications of Psychopathy and Sociopathy in Shakespeare
    Taylor University Pillars at Taylor University Making Literature Conference 2019 Conference Mar 1st, 11:00 AM The mplicI ations of Psychopathy and Sociopathy in Shakespeare Bella McGill Ball State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/makingliterature McGill, Bella, "The mpI lications of Psychopathy and Sociopathy in Shakespeare" (2019). Making Literature Conference. 3. https://pillars.taylor.edu/makingliterature/2019conference/ce4/3 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Campus Events at Pillars at Taylor University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Making Literature Conference by an authorized administrator of Pillars at Taylor University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. McGill 1 Bella McGill Professor Rapatz ENG 464 6 December 2018 The implications of psychopathy and sociopathy in Shakespeare The term “psychopath” tends to bring up images of bloody knives and swinging axes, or of well-known villains like the Joker and Hannibal Lecter. A “sociopath,” alternatively, does not necessarily conjure these types of images, but rather highly intelligent and reserved people, usually in positions of power. In Shakespeare’s plays Othello and Richard III, both of the villains—Iago and Richard—display sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies, respectively. These tendencies are present in famous speeches from both Iago and Richard as well as obvious character traits that appear throughout the plays. The implications of mental disorders behind these characters bring up interesting questions about villainy as well as how much knowledge Shakespeare had of mental illness in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The line between psychopathy and sociopathy is very thin and can sometimes be transparent, often being used interchangeably and, therefore, incorrectly.
    [Show full text]
  • The English Eden: Nationhood and Kingship in Shakespeare and Spenser
    The English Eden: Nationhood and Kingship in Shakespeare and Spenser by David Lukens May, 2014 Director of Thesis: Dr. Thomas Herron Major Department: English Abstract: Throughout the Renaissance in England are works that glorify the nation under a strong nationalistic message. Spenser, with The Faerie Queene, presents a chivalric romance that follows the adventures of several knights who seek to complete tasks for the titular queen Gloriana. It is through multiple levels of allegory that these knights and the enemies they overcome become embodiments of the English nation triumphing over foreign and Catholic nations. It is not just this political lens, but also the blending of religious parallels that elevates these English heroes like Redcrosse and Prince Arthur into Christ-figures, primarily in the context of Christ as a righteous warrior and conqueror. Shakespeare, while not as extensive in the use of allegory as Spenser, also delves into similar ideas concerning the presentation of a strong and united England. However, he also emphasizes the king's role in creating and maintaining a strong nation, with the kings being associated with Christ. Alongside this comparison to Christ is also the recurring conceit that compares the nation to a garden, England as an Eden; such a nation requires a proper gardener, a strong king, to maintain it. By reading in a Spenserian mode, the similarities (and the differences) become apparent in understanding the ideas, praise, and critique for a strong monarch that in turn allows for a strong nation in Shakespeare’s English history plays. Though the focus of this thesis will primarily be on the Henriad plays, the inclusion of Spenser provides a contemporary with which to compare and contrast ideas that are shared between both authors.
    [Show full text]
  • Actes Des Congrès De La Société Française Shakespeare
    Actes des congrès de la Société française Shakespeare 38 | 2020 Shakespeare et le monde animal Hybrid Creatures in Context: Centaurs, Hobby- horses and Sexualised Women (Hamlet, King Lear, The Two Noble Kinsmen) Natália Pikli Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/shakespeare/5055 DOI: 10.4000/shakespeare.5055 ISSN: 2271-6424 Publisher Société Française Shakespeare Electronic reference Natália Pikli, « Hybrid Creatures in Context: Centaurs, Hobby-horses and Sexualised Women (Hamlet, King Lear, The Two Noble Kinsmen) », Actes des congrès de la Société française Shakespeare [Online], 38 | 2020, Online since 10 January 2020, connection on 21 July 2020. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/shakespeare/5055 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/shakespeare.5055 This text was automatically generated on 21 July 2020. © SFS Hybrid Creatures in Context: Centaurs, Hobby-horses and Sexualised Women (Ham... 1 Hybrid Creatures in Context: Centaurs, Hobby-horses and Sexualised Women (Hamlet, King Lear, The Two Noble Kinsmen) Natália Pikli 1 “Think when we talk of horses, that you see them”, says the Chorus in Henry V, 1 alluding to the fact that Shakespeare’s and his contemporaries’ works teem with horses the audience had to imagine, since bringing a live horse onto the stage was rarely a viable option. Besides the war horses of historical battles, early modern playtexts featured other horses or horse-like creatures, belonging to different cultural discourses. Besides the “elite” centaur of humanist education, the hobby-horse of the morris dance, the wickerwork costume of the dancing, prancing, lascivious and merry character (Figure 1) enjoyed heightened popularity in the decades between 1580 and 1642, appearing in numerous texts of different status,2 being the most remembered when it was so famously “forgotten” (cf.
    [Show full text]