In this fascinating study, Henry Ansgar Kelly examines the treatment of fifteenth-century English history - the period covered in Shakespeare's history plays, from Richard II to the accession of Henry VII - by contemporary chroniclers, by sixteenth-century historians, and by Elizabethan poets, notably Shakespeare. The author reveals the large role that political bias played in the contemporary accounts: favorite sons were endowed with divine support while cosmically base troubles were attributed to the opposition. He shows ...
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In this fascinating study, Henry Ansgar Kelly examines the treatment of fifteenth-century English history - the period covered in Shakespeare's history plays, from Richard II to the accession of Henry VII - by contemporary chroniclers, by sixteenth-century historians, and by Elizabethan poets, notably Shakespeare. The author reveals the large role that political bias played in the contemporary accounts: favorite sons were endowed with divine support while cosmically base troubles were attributed to the opposition. He shows that instead of the 'Tudor myth' spoken of by present-day scholars there is a Lancaster myth, a York myth, and a somewhat different Tudor myth. Each is heralded by the partisans of these dynasties. The Lancaster myth regards Richard II's overthrow as providentially arranged and Henry IV's reign as a divine favor, continued under Henry V and Henry VI. The York myth considers Henry VI's loss of the reign as a providential restoration of the usurped throne to the lawful heir of Richard II, namely Edward IV. Kelly finds that the real Tudor myth differs importantly from the widely accepted version in that, far from accepting the Yorkist view that the Henries were punished by God, it accepts the legitimacy of the Lancastrian dynasty: it regards Henry VII, the closest surviving Lancastrian heir, as the providential instrument in the defeat of the wicked Yorkist Richard III and the divinely favored bringer of peace to England. The myth was formulated by the historians and poets who wrote immediately after Henry VII's accession to the throne in 1485. The later chroniclers (especially Polydore Vergil, Hall, and Holinshed) incorporated elements of all three myths - Lancaster, York, and Tudor - but for moralistic rather than for political purposes, often with contradictory results. Shakespeare's great contribution, Kelly asserts, was to sort out the partisan layers that had been blended in the recent compilations available to him and to distribute them to approporiate spokesmen - Lancastrian sentiments to Lancastrians, and so on. He thus eliminated all the purportedly objective providential judgments of his sources and presented such judgments as the opinions of the persons voicing them, thereby allowing each play to create its own ethos and mythos and offer its own hypotheses concerning the springs of human and cosmic action.
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Add this copy of Divine Providence in the England of Shakespeare's to cart. $10.00, very good condition, Sold by Best and Fastest Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wantage, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1970 by Harvard University Press.
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Near Fine in very good jacket. 1970, Edition not stated. Hardcover, in Near Fine condition. The neatly price clipped dust jacket is in Very Good condition, with light edge wear.
Add this copy of Divine Providence in the England of Shakespeare's to cart. $15.00, like new condition, Sold by J. Hood, Booksellers, Inc. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Baldwin City, KS, UNITED STATES, published 1970 by Harvard University Press.
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Small ink signature and date else near new, clean, tight and bright condition in a near new price clipped dust jacket which is now in a clear protective mylar sleeve. 343pp.
Add this copy of Divine Providence in the England of Shakespeare's to cart. $20.00, very good condition, Sold by Grendel Books, ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Springfield, MA, UNITED STATES, published 1970 by Harvard University Press,.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 9x6x1; A gently thumbed copy with clean text and a sturdy binding. Dust jacket has a couple of smudges. Overall, handsome. 344 pp.
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Very Good jacket. Cambridge. 1970. Harvard. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0674212924. 356 pages. hardcover. Jacket illustration: A lively picture describing the weight and substance of God's most blessed word against the doctrines and vanities of men's traditions. From Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Volume III, London, 1641. keywords: Shakespeare England History. DESCRIPTION-In this fascinating study, Henry Ansgar Kelly examines the treatment of fifteenth-century English history-the period covered in Shakespeare's history plays, from Richard II to the accession of Henry VII-by contemporary chroniclers, by sixteenth-century historians, and by Elizabethan poets, notably Shakespeare. The author reveals the large role that political bias played in the contemporary accounts: favorite sons were endowed with divine support while cosmically base troubles were attributed to the opposition. He shows that instead of the 'Tudor myth' spoken of by present-day scholars there is a Lancaster myth, a York myth, and a somewhat different Tudor myth. Each is heralded by the partisans of these dynasties. The Lancaster myth regards Richard II's overthrow as providentially arranged and Henry IV's reign as a divine favor, continued under Henry V and Henry VI. The York myth considers Henry VI's loss of the reign as a providential restoration of the usurped throne to the lawful heir of Richard II, namely Edward IV. Kelly finds that the real Tudor myth differs importantly from the widely accepted version in that, far from accepting the Yorkist view that the Henries were punished by God, it accepts the legitimacy of the Lancastrian dynasty: it regards Henry VII, the closest surviving Lancastrian heir, as the providential instrument in the defeat of the wicked Yorkist Richard III and the divinely favored bringer of peace to England. The myth was formulated by the historians and poets who wrote immediately after Henry VII's accession to the throne in 1485. The later chroniclers (especially Polydore Vergil, Hall, and Holinshed) incorporated elements of all three myths-Lancaster, York, and Tudor-but for moralistic rather than for political purposes, often with contradictory results. Shakespeare's great contribution, Kelly asserts, was to sort out the partisan layers that had been blended in the recent compilations available to him and to distribute them to approporiate spokesmen-Lancastrian sentiments to Lancastrians, and so on. He thus eliminated all the purportedly objective providential judgments of his sources and presented such judgments as the opinions of the persons voicing them, thereby allowing each play to create its own ethos and mythos and offer its own hypotheses concerning the springs of human and cosmic action. inventory #4998.
