Shakespeare's monarchies
Subtitle: ruler and subject in the romances
By: Constance Jordan.
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Ithaca, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 224
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Tragicomedies.; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Kings and rulers.; Politics and literature -- Great Britain -- History -- 17th century.; Political plays, English -- History and criticism.; Tragicomedy -- History and criticism.; Kings and rulers in literature.; Monarchy in literature.
Description: Constance Jordan looks at how Shakespeare, through his romances, contributed to the cultural debates over the nature of monarchy in Jacobean England. Stressing the differences between absolutist and constitutionalist principles of rule, Jordan reveals Shakespeare's investment in the idea that a head of state should be responsive to law, and not be governed by his unbridled will.

Conflicts within royal courts which occur in the romances show wives, daughters, and servants resisting tyrannical husbands, fathers, masters, and monarchs by relying on the authority of conscience. Shakespeare's Monarchies recognizes the romances as politically inflected texts and confirms Shakespeare's involvement in the public discourse of the period.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.