Browsing by Subject "Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Histories"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Shakespeare's historical epic(Texas Tech University, 1987-05) Hammer, Letha Ann GravesThis dissertation reviews the critical movements that shaped the practice of Renaissance arts concerning the epic, considers how Elizabethan writers viewed the subject of the epic, and then reexamines Shakespeare's Lancaster- York history plays, Richard II, 1 Henry IV, 2_ Henry IV, Henry V, 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI, and Richard III according to Renaissance theories about the epic. To appreciate Shakespeare's epic achievement, one needs to begin with an understanding of Aristotle's Poetics and Horace's Ars Poetica which provide the classical foundation for epics as well as for tragedy and poetry in general. While it is apparent that English Renaissance practitioners of the epic knew the classical theorists, it is not apparent that they felt confined to following only the classicists. English writers were very much influenced by the Italian deviation from and enhancement of the classical model. Renaissance Italian writers, Cinthio, Trissio, Tasso, Castelvetro, Scaliger, and Minturno, began to fashion a new concept of the epic, one which they felt more nearly reflected their spirit, pride, and patriotism. Their ideas and practice retained much of the classical theory but also added romance and heroic elements to the epic. Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser adapted the Italian theories to the English epic. An analysis of Shakespeare's Lancaster-York history plays according to classical and Renaissance epic theories reveals that as a unit, these plays exhibit the characteristics of the Elizabethan epic: they are an heroic narrative of ample scope which addresses its ethical lessons to princes, follows a classical form, uses the common vernacular, glorifies the nation, and traces the cyclical nature of the world through the rise and fall of an individual or a nation. These plays suggest that Shakespeare did more than attain great artistic triumphs, promote a political philosophy, or manifest an epic spirit. He wrote an historical epic of England.