Disordered family relationships in renaissance drama

Shakespeare's Henry V (1599) and Macbeth (1606), and Arden of Faversham (1592) demonstrate the role of drama as an instructional vehicle in a time of social unrest. Through family discord, the plays explore the affects of disorder on a society. Henry V places emphasis on both literal and figurative relationships. Henry's relationship with his dead father sets the scene for inheritance, which leads into the play's famous figurative fraternal relationship. It is this bond that demonstrates fraternal discord. Henry's treatment of his figurative brothers, disruption of French peace, and failure to unify present him as the disruptive figure within the play. Shakespeare's Macbeth shows the role family discord plays in creating a chaotic nation. Through the marital relationship, Lady Macbeth controls Macbeth and encourages him to break disorder and kill the king. Subsequently, this murder instigates the chaos that threatens to destroy Scotland. Written in the year following the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Macbeth reinforces the importance of an orderly society. Arden of Faversham, in contrast, serves as a reminder importance of an orderly family and the repercussions of breaking that order in the merchant class. Alice Arden creates disorder by committing adultery. In the action that follows, the Arden household serves as the epitome of family discord and its disastrous results. During the early modern period, drama served as a means through which society could be reminded of the effects of disorder. Plays served the didactic role of warning readers and playgoers of the repercussions for breaking social order.