On The National Narration Of Ireland And Its Cultural Significance In Shakespeare's History Plays

Shakespeare's history plays were created at the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, a period when England stepped into the initial stage of Capitalism characterized by national prosperity, cultural flourishing and national pride booming, along with which England's demands of building an independent and powerful nation-state and definite national identity got increasingly strong. However, in the second half of the sixteenth century, the rebellions frequently happened in England's oldest colony—Ireland, which became an obstacle in forming an Anglo-centric nation-state in British Isles.Literary production is always closely linked with social and historical contexts. Through a close reading of Shakespeare's history plays, we notice that with England's high discourses of national pride, the national narration of marginalized Ireland is obviously presented in the dramatic texts. Thus, by contextualizing Shakespeare's history plays within Anglo-Irish conflicts in the second half of the sixteenth century, with the new historicists'concepts of"self-fashioning","circulation of discourses"and"subversion-containment"as the theoretical perspective, from the angles of ideology, cultural colonization and ethnical relationships, the thesis aims to analyze the othering feature of Irish national narration in Shakespeare's histories, which is shaped under the Anglo-centric dominant discourses. The study is also committed to reveal the historical and cultural roots of the narration and its dynamic effects in defining the Anglo-centric national identity through the onstage circulation of the history plays at the turn of the seventeenth century. Besides the introduction and conclusion, the thesis includes three chapters.The introduction describes briefly the importance of Shakespeare's history plays, the deficiency of current domestic studies, and the theme, theoretical perspective and structure of the thesis as well.Through an analysis of the close connections between the monarchal images and Ireland in the two tetralogies, chapter one puts forward that the self-fashioning process of English national identity is achieved through the conquest and elimination of the marginalized Ireland under the dominant Anglo-centric ideology.Chapter two points out the playwright's deliberation in making the two scenes of linguistic struggles respectively presented in Henry IV and Henry V, and demonstrates the subtext of Ireland under the linguistic struggles within the text. It uncovers English cultural anxiety about Ireland whose language and culture assimilates the old English colonists, yet in turn is immune from English cultural colonialism.Chapter three locates Henry V within the national relationship between England and its Celtic neighbors. By a comparison between Fluellen and Macmorris, the representatives of two Celtic nations, namely Wales and Ireland, the thesis argues that Wales has already been incorporated into England empire, serving as a submission sample of Ireland that remains resistant to be Anglicized completely. By containing the subversive voices of Ireland within the mighty voices of national unity, Shakespeare indicates that British Isles is moving toward one nation with England as the core and Ireland to be contained.The conclusion sums up that when the dramatic texts are read from the angles of ideology, cultural colonization, and ethnical relations, the Anglo-centrism consciousness is obvious to see in Shakespeare's history plays. The narration of this Anglo-centrism consciousness circulates on the stage functioning as a colonizing discourse with dynamic fashioning effects in participating Anglo-centric British nation-state construction.