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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Kristýna Rýparová Staging the Tudor Myth in Shakespeare’s Histories Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Filip Krajník, Ph. D. 2016 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1. The Tudor Myth and Tudor Propaganda .................................................................................. 3 1.1 The Arthurian Claim ..................................................................................................... 3 1.2 The Providential Union of Lancaster and York and the Theory of the Divine Right .................................................................................................................................. 5 2. Sources for Shakespeare’s Histories ........................................................................................... 8 2.1 Polydore Vergil’s Anglica Historia ................................................................................. 8 2.2 Thomas More’s History of King Richard III ................................................................... 9 2.3 Edward Hall’s The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke.................................................................................................................................. 9 2.4 Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland .............................. 10 2.5 A Mirror for Magistrates ................................................................................................. 11 2.6 The Books of Homilies ............................................................................................... 11 3. Literary Criticism ......................................................................................................................... 13 4. An Analysis of the Second Tetralogy ....................................................................................... 17 4.1 Richard II ........................................................................................................................ 17 4.2 1 Henry IV and 2 Henry IV ......................................................................................... 23 4.3 Henry V .......................................................................................................................... 30 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 36 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 39 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 41 Resumé ....................................................................................................................................... 42 Introduction Not all the water in the rough rude sea Can wash the balm off from an anointed king; (Richard II. 3. 2. 54-55) William Shakespeare, living under the reign of the last Tudor monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, wrote approximately 38 plays (the exact number is unknown), 10 of them dealing with English history. The histories- as they are usually called- are not really history plays, because although they depict certain periods of English history, they do not simply dramatize past events, but they alter them and suggest various ideologies. Shakespeare’s histories should be taken more as political plays, as they provide a political insight to the age of the monarch they are concerned with. Affected by the prevailing doctrine of his time, Shakespeare reflects the contemporary politics in the plays, making them a great source of a Tudor thought. As mentioned before, there are 10 plays mapping the English past, and they are divided to two tetralogies, with two plays staying separately- King John and Henry VIII. The first tetralogy, dealing with the Wars of Roses, consists of the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III. And the second tetralogy, although being written after the first one, describes the years before the accession of Henry VI. The plays that are included in the second tetralogy are Richard II, two parts of Henry IV and Henry V, and they are the topic of this thesis, which aims to provide the examples of the Tudor thought- especially the Tudor propaganda, which can be found in the tetralogy. The thesis consists of a theoretical and an analytical part and is organised as follows: the first chapter explains the meaning of the Tudor myth and provides the definition of the Tudor propaganda. It emphasizes the extent of the doctrine and suggests the reasons of its success. In the second chapter the main sources for Shakespeare’s history plays are pointed out, and an extra focus is brought to the appearance of the Tudor myth in 1 them. The third chapter maps the 20th century literary criticism in relation to the Tudor thought in Shakespeare’s histories and discusses Shakespeare’s own beliefs. The fourth chapter is analytical and deals with the second tetralogy, analysing each of the plays individually. It points out the where the Tudor myth and propaganda are used and therefore aims to prove its presence in the plays. The last section concludes. 2 1. The Tudor Myth and Tudor Propaganda In the last ten or fifteen years of the reign of the last Tudor monarch- Queen Elizabeth I- “a very large number of plays on subjects drawn from English history” were published (Knights 11). The rise of nationalism, caused by the English Reformation under the reign of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth’s victory over the Spanish Armada, evoked an interest for English history in the nation. It was also a Tudor intention to awaken patriotism and a feeling of unity in their subjects, as they needed to strengthen their position on the throne and avoid rebellions. History, being “a valuable guide to the present” in the eyes of the Elizabethans, was modified to suit the purposes of Tudor monarchs and to secure the obedience of the nation (Wright 301). Historians and playwrights were “conscious of their duty as moralists to hold up a mirror to the times” but they were encouraged by the ruler to write the version of history desirable for him (Reese 66). King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, ascended the throne by defeating Richard III on the battlefield of Bosworth in 1485. Unfortunately, there were still many supporters and survivors of the House of York, so the first years of his reign were “full of uprisings and conspiracies to remove the king” and replace him by one of the Yorkists (Rogers 125). Henry VII, in order to justify and strengthen his position, put a great emphasis on the history of the nation and his own genealogy. He “was the first English monarch who used history on a grand national scale to legitimise his accession to power”, and therefore he “fostered two historical notions that became great national schemes” (Goy-Blanquet 62; Tillyard 29). 1.1 The Arthurian Claim There is an old Welsh superstition which claims that the legendary King Arthur is not dead and will return again. Henry VII encouraged the myth by a “suggestion that he 3 and his heirs were Arthur reincarnate” (Tillyard 30). He supported his claims by tracing the Tudor lineage “through the Welsh princes, back to the primitive British kings” (Anglo 17). Through his ancestor Owen Tudor, who was the second husband of Catherine of Valois (the widow of Henry V), he claimed a direct descent from Cadwallader- the last of the British kings (Tillyard 29). The belief of the Tudor connection to Cadwallader was quite popular in the Tudor period and it was also reflected in the welcoming speech written to greet the newly appointed King Henry VII in Worcester. Cadwaladers Blodde lynyally descending, Longe hath bee towlde of such a Prince comyng, Wherfor Frendes, if that I shal not lye, This same is the Fulfiller of the Profecye. (qtd. in Anglo 17) Although the speech was never given, it can serve as an illustration of the popularity of the claim. Henry VII did even name his eldest son Arthur to emphasise the fabricated connection of his family to the legendary king. As Sydney Anglo states, one of the foundations for the idea was also an interesting choice of Arthur’s birthplace. Winchester Castle, the place where prince Arthur was born, was “noted for its Arthurian connections and particularly, during the fifteenth century, for the Round Table preserved in the Great Hall” (28). The Winchester Round Table present in the castle served as one of the allusions to the Tudor ancestry. Prince Arthur died very young, but his death “did not prevent the other Tudors making the Arthurian claim” (Tillyard 30). According to Tillyard, the ancient legends spoke of the return of the golden age, if Arthur would reappear (30). Indeed, the reign of Elizabeth I was called golden and she was claimed to be the reincarnation of King Arthur. Elizabeth was seen as “the crowning Tudor achievement” and the reincarnation theory was supported by many Elizabethans including writers and poets (Tillyard 31). Edmund Spenser in his book praising Elizabeth I 4 called The Faerie Queene deals