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James and Shakespeare: Unification through Mapping

Wagner, Christina
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1431114265

Abstract Details

2015, Master of Arts in English, Cleveland State University, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
The art of exploration became an important aspect of theater in early modern England. Exploration is typically done through the utilization of a map. The map scene in Lear provides a focal point to peer into the political ventures of King James I. As a proponent for peace, James both unified and divided his kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland through the use of cartography as a way to show the aspirations of a king. Lear, in dividing his kingdom between his three daughters, shows Shakespeare’s careful strategic planning of the division of a kingdom and what that means in early modern England. While the map scene in Lear forces us to look more closely at the land that is represented on the map, the scene also forces us to look at how the land is represented on the map. Prior criticism has focused on the division of Lear’s lands, but this paper forces us to look at how Lear divides and also how he unifies. This strategy of unification and division mirrors the political strategy of James through his own division and unification tactics. This thesis will focus both on how Shakespeare represents the map in the confines of a play and how the political struggles of a king are represented in that play.
James Marino, PhD (Committee Member)
Rachel Carnell, PhD (Committee Member)
Gary Dyer, PhD (Committee Member)
British and Irish Literature; Cartography; European History; Literature
cartography; map; King Lear; Shakespeare; unification; England

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Wagner, C. (2015). James and Shakespeare: Unification through Mapping [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1431114265

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Wagner, Christina. James and Shakespeare: Unification through Mapping. 2015. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1431114265.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Wagner, Christina. "James and Shakespeare: Unification through Mapping." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1431114265

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

csu1431114265
449
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This open access ETD is published by Cleveland State University and OhioLINK.