For Shakespeare, History is Neither Comedy nor Tragedy

By Christina Guerrini

In the Advanced Shakespeare course this semester taught by Professor Justin Shaw, we read a variety of Shakespeare’s plays, all classified under a different category according to the 1623 First Folio: comedies, histories, and tragedies. While this is a fairly useful way of examining these works, once we delve deeper into the text, we are presented with a few issues. First and foremost, Shakespeare took many creative liberties when writing his history plays. For example, he forgoes mention of the Magna Carta in King John, which we would think would be an incredibly pivotal historical detail that provides context to King John’s rule. Shakespeare is fascinated by human relations and focuses a great deal more on them, which is exemplified by the events that he includes within the text of King John. Secondly, classifying Shakespeare’s plays into either comedies or tragedies does not always make sense to the reader of each play. For instance, while Measure for Measure is classified as a comedy, there are a variety of details that make it disturbing and uncomfortable to read, dubbing it a “problem play.”

This phenomenon of being an almost nonconforming play stands out to me. It urges us to remember that nothing is ever black and white, not only in literature but also in our lives. There are myriad nuances that dictate different decisions and outcomes - and Shakespeare knows this very well, supported by his extensive study of human behavior throughout his plays. In particular, Shakespeare’s history plays provide a lens into politics and encourage discourse of what a tyrannical ruler looks like by placing them in a setting from the past. There was no freedom of speech or expression in Elizabethan England to talk about current rulers like we are accustomed to today, so he achieved his goals of writing about tyrannical leaders in a veiled format (Greenblatt). This prompts a discussion about the evolution of politics, protest, and race in society through our history, and in this course, we were able to draw parallels between the events within Shakespeare plays and the events within our own “pandemic-sized,” election-resulting semester.

It is nearly impossible to avoid political coverage these days. Many of us feel an obligation to remain informed as best as possible because the events of the past four years, since the 2016 United States presidential election, have left us in a state of fear and uncertainty. In Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics, Stephen Greenblatt never explicitly names Trump, but he offers comparisons and questions towards tyrants within Shakespeare plays that are too similar for the reader not to draw connections. Tyrannical rulers consistently end up dead at the end of Shakespeare’s plays, not limited to but including King John, Richard II, Henry VI, and Richard III. This alone clearly expresses Shakespeare’s view of tyrannical leaders. In understanding the politics of Shakespeare and how a tyrant comes to power, it helps us come to terms with the realities of the tyranny that exists within our government today. Is it a sort of common humanity that we are not alone and that we will get through this terrible time? Or is it a form of escapism to look at how bad things were in the past and maybe, just maybe, we are approaching better times in the future? The 2020 United States presidential election results seemed to at first offer a reprieve, but then, a failure to concede the election sparked a conversation about precedent. Is there a precedent for Donald Trump refusing to concede the election?

( https://www.npr.org/2020/11/20/937201057/is-trump-setting-a-historical-precedent-by-refusing-to-concede ).

David Tennant as King Richard II (Telegraph.co.uk; photo by Alastair Muir, 2013)

The tyranny only of Donald Trump as well as previous United States presidents has allowed racial injustice and systemic racism to foster within American society. After the protests that erupted this summer over the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, it is even more crucial that we examine our past because it holds the key to how to make our future better - to not repeat the same mistakes. We can cease repeating history, so why can we not break this vicious cycle? Shakespeare’s plays are imbued with racialized language, and with this in mind, he creates racial awareness in his plays. While we did not read Titus Andronicus, The Merchant of Venice, or Othello in this class, these are all Shakespeare plays that tackle race in a rather hostile approach. The Merchant of Venice features an abundance of anti-Semitism, and it was even used as Nazi propaganda (Gross). Aaron the Moor is a black man in a powerful position who is labeled as the villain in Titus Andronicus. Othello, another Moor and Black man in power, is deceived by Iago to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him. Othello then reacts in anger and murders his wife and then dies by suicide when he realizes his mistake. Both Othello and Aaron are referred to as moors within the plays (evidence of radicalized identities - the play is entitled The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice).

Aside from all of this and the significance it holds, there is also racialized language that is more nuanced within other Shakespeare plays, like Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is repeatedly characterized by language associated with dark, and Juliet is only referred to in terms of light. Shakespeare even goes so far as to have Romeo characterize Juliet as “the sun” (2.1.44-45). Whenever someone is labeled as an “other” on account of their likeness, this immediately identifies them as being different, and in some cases, as being less than. This problem persists in American society today.

Academics, and at least this semester, Shakespeare plays, has served as a form of escapism for me in light of the crises that plague our world at the present. And for me, history has served as a healthy outlet since I was in grade school. I am fascinated by stories of the past, and I have always longed for a personal connection to them. But as I grow older, I am troubled by the abundance of knowledge that we possess and the lack of action that we take to amend the atrocities that have existed for generations upon generations. And I repeatedly ask myself, especially this semester, how do we apply lessons from our history and dispense with tyranny?

Works Cited:

Greenblatt, Stephen. Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics . W. W. Norton, 2018.

Gross, John. “Theater; Shylock and Nazi Propaganda," The New York Times, 4 Apr. 1993,

Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

“What was the Significance of the Peasants’ Revolt? | 3 Minute History.” Youtube, uploaded by History Hub, 23 Oct. 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mdW1tT5vxk&feature=youtu.be .