Anti-Spanish Strategies:The Politics Of Censorship In A Game At Chess

Thomas Middleton(1580-1627)is a Renaissance playwright who creates acknowledged masterpieces of comedy,tragedy,and history.In August 1624,A Game at Chess became Middleton’s the most successful play,but also the most spectacularly and scandalously popular play of the English Renaissance.The play which is based on the major political and foreign policy crises at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War mainly compares white house in the chess game to Protestant England and black house to Catholic Spain.It attracted lots of scholars and critics abroad to do researches,but they have not touched upon comparing its early version in Jacobean era with its latter version in Caroline era to explore the politics of censorship.From the perspective of new historicism,this thesis attempts to explore how censorship systems in two different versions of this play in Jacobean and Caroline era are driven by concerns about politics and discuss how censorship helps arouse England’s anti-Spanish emotions to construct national religious identity.The main body of the thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter I "Introduction" gives a brief introduction to Thomas Middleton and his play A Game at Chess and a succinct review of the critical history related to A Game at Chess.Then it elucidates new historicism and argumentative structure of the thesis.Chapter 2 "Censorship System and the Situations at Home and Abroad in Jacobean and Caroline England" displays the historical context by focusing on international and national conflicts.On the international level,conflicts between Spain and England are dwelled upon.On the national level,conflicts between pro-war and anti-war parties are discussed.Meanwhile,it also analyses censorship system in Jacobean and Caroline England.Chapter 3 "Censorship of A Game at Chess as the First Anti-Spanish Strategy in Jacobean Age"explores how such an incendiary play was allowed to be published when censorship was strict during James l’s reign,how black house demonizes Catholicism and how white house beautifies Protestantism.All of these serve as the first strategy to trigger anti-Spainish feelings among the public in England.Chapter 4 "Censorship of A Game at Chess as the Second Anti-Spanish Strategy in Caroline Age"discusses the important role played by Buckingham in Caroline era in coping with crises facing England and the reason why texts alluding to his unusual sexual relations with James and his other negative sketches in the later version are deleted.It also analyses how this latter version mutes those anti-crown and anti-Buckingham emotions at that time.All of these serve as the second strategy to redouble anti-Spanish emotions.Chaper 5 "A Game at Chess as a Means to Construct English Religious Identity" shows ethnic identity crisis with which England was confronted during Tudor-Stuart Centuries and explores how this play constructs a victorious England by imagining a dooming Spain.In summary,this thesis conducts a research into censorship centering around two versions of Middleton’s play A Game at Chess on strength of new historicism.The conclusion can be drawn that censorship systems in two different versions of this play in Jacobean and Caroline era are driven by concerns about politics and the politics of censorship of this play helps encourage the public in England to fight more efficiently against Spain and build national religious identity.