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Mendacity and Kingship in Shakespeare's Henry V and Richard III

Pudney, Eric LU (2015) In European Journal of English Studies 19(2). p.163-175
Abstract
Shakespeare’s Henry V and Richard III both practise mendacity, but while Henry V celebrates Henry’s capacity for deceit, the king’s lies are condemned in Richard III. The plays show how similar patterns of behaviour in early modern England could be represented as either virtuous or evil by means of rhetoric, while the similar behaviour of the two kings suggests a broad awareness of the necessity of deceit as a political skill. These two plays also draw attention to their own rhetorical distortions in ways which have appeared troubling to many modern critics, but which exemplify humanist ideas about education through rhetorical ‘lies’.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Shakespeare, mendacity, kingship, humanist writers, Richard III, Henry V, early modern political theory, history plays
in
European Journal of English Studies
volume
19
issue
2
pages
163 - 175
publisher
Swets & Zeitlinger
external identifiers
  • wos:000358002700003
  • scopus:84937041338
ISSN
1382-5577
DOI
10.1080/13825577.2015.1039279
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
30013e15-c4ab-4fe8-900c-5e59f63eaf11 (old id 7513666)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:31:57
date last changed
2022-04-27 22:58:44
@article{30013e15-c4ab-4fe8-900c-5e59f63eaf11,
  abstract     = {{Shakespeare’s Henry V and Richard III both practise mendacity, but while Henry V celebrates Henry’s capacity for deceit, the king’s lies are condemned in Richard III. The plays show how similar patterns of behaviour in early modern England could be represented as either virtuous or evil by means of rhetoric, while the similar behaviour of the two kings suggests a broad awareness of the necessity of deceit as a political skill. These two plays also draw attention to their own rhetorical distortions in ways which have appeared troubling to many modern critics, but which exemplify humanist ideas about education through rhetorical ‘lies’.}},
  author       = {{Pudney, Eric}},
  issn         = {{1382-5577}},
  keywords     = {{Shakespeare; mendacity; kingship; humanist writers; Richard III; Henry V; early modern political theory; history plays}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{163--175}},
  publisher    = {{Swets & Zeitlinger}},
  series       = {{European Journal of English Studies}},
  title        = {{Mendacity and Kingship in Shakespeare's Henry V and Richard III}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13825577.2015.1039279}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/13825577.2015.1039279}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}