A Study Of Shakespeare's Henry ? Kingship Thought

Elizabeth I created the golden age of the United Kingdom,revolutionizing and leading the United Kingdom to become a power country around the world.Whether it was the economic development of overseas trade,or the defeat of the Spanish Invincible Armada in military diplomacy,and even the strategy of combining lenient and tempering in the religion,Elizabeth's treatment fully demonstrated her wisdom in governing the country.Undoubtedly,under the rule of Elizabeth,great changes have taken place in British society.Changes in the social structure would inevitably lead to changes in the political system.Coupled with the influence of the Renaissance on the European continent,people have also put forward new requirements for the country and politics.It can be said that the Elizabethan period was a key node in breaking the medieval feudal system and moving toward the nation-state.Shakespeare was born in the era of such great changes in the British and European society.As a thinker who was very concerned about national politics and human development,his works would inevitably show the development of the era and conceal his thinking about the political system.In many chronicles,he choose Henry VI as his first historical play,indicating that the era of Henry VI fully expressed Shakespeare's thinking about his time--the Elizabethan era.Henry VI was at the end of Hundred Years War between the Kingdom of England and France,and the Wars of the Roses(1455-1485).It was an era of meeting internal and external troubles,so the social order was chaotic.The so-called turbulent society can often lead to major changes and social restructuring and progress.Social restructuring and political change are the internal connection points between Henry VI and the Elizabethan era.Perhaps this was why Shakespeare was concerned about the Henry VI era and took Henry VI as his first historical play.So as Shakespeare's first response to the times about political thinking,Henry VI deserves in-depth research.In addition to the Introduction and Conclusion,this dissertation is divided into four parts:The first part is about Shakespeare's era,systematically summarizing the legal and political thoughts of this era,starting from four representative political ideas of Thomas Moore,Hook,Edward Cork and Francis Bacon.There were two real political issues at the time: the first was the relationship between the church and the secular government,and the second was the trend of strengthening the centralization and cooperation with the various government departments in the Middle Ages,which was specifically expressed as the relationship between the king,the parliament,and the court.These two issues have become the background for the development of British political theory.The second part,combined with Henry VI,explores the antecedents and realistic basis of the transformation of medieval kingship to secularized kingship.Shakespeare's "Henry VI" shows the social unrest caused by the Rose War,including the fall of the church,the decline of the knight's spirit,the political corruption of the nobility,showing the disorder of society.The situation of the British kings when they were in the throne was rarely as critical as when Elizabeth was in the throne.In such a turbulent political situation,it means that the king must reform to consolidate the monarchy.The third part,combined with the text of Henry VI,explores the necessity of strengthening the kingship.The important structure of maintaining social order in the Middle Ages—the spirit of the church,the knights,and the checks and balances of the aristocracy—has collapsed.At this time,it is urgent to concentrate the kingship to restore the political function of social order.Strengthening the kingship is a necessary choice to restore social order.The king must be brave in maintaining public welfare such as peace and justice.The fourth part is about the relationship between the kingship and the law.Firstly,it analyzes the source of the legitimacy of the kingship,and then elaborates the internal foundation of the regulation imposed on the kingship by law.Finally,it is concluded that the kingship must be regulated by law.It is precisely because the United Kingdom retains more of the ideals of the supremacy of the law that prevailed in the Middle Ages that Britain can gradually create a free and modern development process.