TY - JOUR
T1 - 'This prison where I live'
T2 - Ireland takes centre stage
AU - Collins, Nicholas
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - Although never visibly staged, Ireland plays a critical role in monarchic succession in Shakespeare's histories. Through two complementary offstage phenomena, the 'spectral' and the 'obscene', this article reveals how Ireland imprisons England. In 2 Henry VI, Ireland's spectral presence provides York with the ideal space from which to foment rebellion and challenge Henry VI. In Richard II, by contrast, Richard heads to Ireland to quell rebellion; however, Richard's trip leads to his enforced abdication. Richard, imprisoned, is caught between an obscene state of exclusion and the spectral world beyond the prison walls: Ireland, crucially, is shown to imprison England's imagination.
AB - Although never visibly staged, Ireland plays a critical role in monarchic succession in Shakespeare's histories. Through two complementary offstage phenomena, the 'spectral' and the 'obscene', this article reveals how Ireland imprisons England. In 2 Henry VI, Ireland's spectral presence provides York with the ideal space from which to foment rebellion and challenge Henry VI. In Richard II, by contrast, Richard heads to Ireland to quell rebellion; however, Richard's trip leads to his enforced abdication. Richard, imprisoned, is caught between an obscene state of exclusion and the spectral world beyond the prison walls: Ireland, crucially, is shown to imprison England's imagination.
KW - 2 Henry VI
KW - Ireland
KW - Obscene
KW - Richard II
KW - Shakespeare
KW - Spectral
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84983315021&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7227/CE.88.1.9
DO - 10.7227/CE.88.1.9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84983315021
SN - 0184-7678
VL - 88
SP - 125
EP - 138
JO - Cahiers Elisabethains
JF - Cahiers Elisabethains
IS - 1
ER -