Troy Imagery and Competing Codes of Piety in Shakespeare's Early History Plays

Abstract

This dissertation examines the relationship between British identity and mythic history presented in the early history plays of Shakespeare's first tetralogy. By examining the imagery of Troy and Rome, specifically the story of Aeneas, on the Renaissance stage, it argues that popular Elizabethan notions about history claimed Aeneas as an ancestor through Britain's mythic, national founder, Brutus, thereby laying claim to a culture shared with ancient Rome. The repeated references to Troy and Rome in the plays remind the audience that an important part of their national identity stems from Aeneas' defining code of classical piety. Shakespeare's Henry VI plays constantly put the demands of this classical piety in conversation with Henry's own Christian piety. While other scholars have suggested that the king's Christian conduct undermines the princely duties required of him, this dissertation also exmines Richard III, Henry V, and Troilus and Cressida to argue that the plays suggest an ideal English kingship that unites classical and Christian codes of piety. Shakespeare suggests that either code leads to disastrous downfall without the other, but the ideal English king combines the two to perfect classical virtue with the moral rectitude of the one true faith.