Metatheater, Gender, and Subjectivity in Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1

Authors

R. A. Martin, University of California at Santa Cruz

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

It has often been remarked that in Shakespeare's second Henriad Richard II is a play which presents a medieval world while Henry IV, Part I, presents a Renaissance, or "modern," world, and C. L. Barber has persuasively characterized this shift as a movement from a static, ceremonial view of human life to a dramatic and historical one.¹ Perhaps the most important corollary of Barber's formulation is that men come to be seen as actors rather than as mere performers-men play roles rather than embody them. The differences in the characterization and presentation of men in these two plays are accordingly manifold and substantial.

Recommended Citation

Martin, R. A. (1989) "Metatheater, Gender, and Subjectivity in Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1," Comparative Drama: Vol. 23: Iss. 3, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol23/iss3/3