Another Father’s Day gift, this one, appropriately, is from my theatre arts teacher/daughter. The Harvard English professor certainly knows his Shakespeare, and is selective here in discussing his plays about tyrants. He notes that all the tyrants are well before Shakespeare’s time since he would risk his life if he criticized more current tyrants. The included tyrants are in Henry VI (parts I-III), Richard III, Macbeth, King Lear, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, Julius Caesar, and Coriolanus, in the order in which they were written.The ruthless pursuit of power for power’s sake is depicted in all of these with brutal realism.
Shakespeare’s insights into the masochistic, and narcissistic personalities of tyrants developed over his lifetime and are still highly relevant and cautionary. “A tyrant does not traffic in facts or supply evidence. He expects his accusations to be enough.” “What he actually wants is loyalty and by loyalty he does not mean integrity, honour or responsibility. He means an immediate, unreserved confirmation of his own views and a willingness to carry out his orders without hesitation. When an autocratic, paranoid narcissistic ruler sits down with a civil servant and asks for his loyalty, the state is in danger.” This is as close as Greenblatt comes to criticizing current leaders, but it is not hard to see the relevance to Trumpland.
Much of this discussion could be viewed as an expanded Playbill for the tragedies discussed.There is absolutely no humour in this dry treatise. There is also no “About the Author” as though he thinks he must be so well known that everyone in the English world knows all about him.
This will be a valuable book for dedicated Shakespeare buffs. If you are going to see any of the plays discussed, it would be useful to read the relevant parts in advance.
Thanks, Alana.
The Passionate Reader 