Shakespeare's Sceptered Isle: Finding English National Identity in the Plays

The book explores how Shakespeare's history plays shaped modern England's national identity, language, and culture through semiotics, symbols, and metaphor. It examines how ideas were framed and circulated, and how a national identity was crafted, contested, and circulated.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 18 May 2022
Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc

This work explores Shakespeare's history and Roman plays to uncover the foundations of English national consciousness and identity. Rather than focusing solely on the plots or historical facts of the dramas, it delves into the attitudes and imaginings they evoked in audiences. Reading Shakespeare through the lens of national identity is a longstanding scholarly pursuit, with numerous scholars identifying various manifestations of nationhood in his works. This book contends that Shakespeare's histories provided modern England with a blueprint for constructing a national identity, fostering a sense of linguistic and cultural confidence, and offering a potent means of communication and self-expression. It employs semiotics to analyze the playwright's use of symbols, metonymy, symbolic codes, and metaphor, examining how ideas were framed and how a national identity was shaped, challenged, and disseminated. By examining what Shakespeare and his audience remembered and neglected, as well as the ways in which ideas were presented, this book sheds light on the intricate process of crafting, contesting, and circulating a national identity.

Weight: 351g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781476685823