The Second Coming of the Second Tetralogy: Shakespeare's Depiction of that "Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come"

Shakespeare;history plays;Kermode;Christ;kairos;chronos;redeemer;bible;Eden;apocalypse;Genesis;Revelation;Prince Hal;Richard II;Henry IV;Henry V;second tetralogy

Price, Trudy Jones ; Dr. Michael Grimwood, Committee Member,Dr. M. Thomas Hester, Committee Chair,Dr. Brian Blackley, Committee Member,Price, Trudy Jones ; Dr. Michael Grimwood ; Committee Member ; Dr. M. Thomas Hester ; Committee Chair ; Dr. Brian Blackley ; Committee Member

University:North Carolina State University

关键词: Shakespeare;    history plays;    Kermode;    Christ;    kairos;    chronos;    redeemer;    bible;    Eden;    apocalypse;    Genesis;    Revelation;    Prince Hal;    Richard II;    Henry IV;    Henry V;    second tetralogy;   

Others  :  https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.16/478/etd.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: null

【 摘 要 】

Shakespeare's second tetralogy is framed by various biblical types, images and allusions in order to dramatize a specific period in history in terms of divine history. Shakespeare develops the tetralogy's structure using the structure of the Bible, beginning with an image of Genesis and ending with an image of Revelation. The first play, The Tragedy of Richard II,portrays England as a fallen "demi-paradise," reminiscent of Eden, and Richard as a fallen man, a type of Adam whose tragic fall creates the need for a redeemer of England, as reccounted in the providential history of Genesis. This redeemer comes to life in his next two plays, The History of King Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 in the character of Prince Hal, who is depicted later to be "the mirror of all Christian princes." Henry IV, Part I dramatizes Hal's gradual "revelation" as that "redeemer" and also introduces Apocalyptic images in order to foreshadow the hardships portrayed in the next two plays. Henry IV, Part 2 "mocks [our] expectations" raised by Hal's success as one who will "Redeem...time" by allowing the play to linger on as we wait for Henry IV's imminent death. The tetralogy presents the Fall of man and need for a redeemer, the waiting time (chronos) that must be endured, and the season and fulfillment of that time (kairos) in order to show the audience how to seize their own kairos and live a life worthy of imitation, as Henry V did.An analogical reading of Henry V thus shows Henry to be a character created not to represent Christ, but to remind the audience that Christ is on His way and to provide them with a mirror of how to live according to His word, specifically as revealed in Revelation.