Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare - (Politics, Literature, & Film) by Nicolas McAfee (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A Way Out of the Wreck" explores the political wisdom contained in the four last plays of Shakespeare's First Folio. These four plays prove remarkably united in their presentation of five virtues-patience, piety, fidelity, clemency, and diligence-which consistently appear des...

Book Synopsis

The four last plays of Shakespeare's First Folio--Cymbeline, The Tempest, Henry VIII, and The Winter's Tale--provide underappreciated resources for political thought and reflection. Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare: A Way Out of the Wreck examines the ruling communities in each of these plays, exploring what virtues are dramatized as necessary in a courtier's fulfillment of his or her political obligations. By lending courtly virtues their close attention, Shakespearean audiences can better appreciate how much a given court has been reformed or could be further reformed in the future. Indeed, these four late plays prove remarkably united in their presentation of five virtues--patience, piety, fidelity, clemency, and diligence--which consistently appear desirable for rulers to have and regimes to encourage. Moreover, the visions of tyranny offered in these plays remind readers how much is at stake should these courtly virtues decay or collapse. Their presence or absence signals whether any political community will, to borrow the language of Henry VIII, chart for themselves "a way out of the wreck."

Review Quotes

"In Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare, McAfee devotes one chapter each to Cymbeline, Henry VIII, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. McAfee's concern is specifically to explore what these plays have to say about the character and conduct desirable for rulers and courtiers. He systematically evaluates each major character in terms of his or her embodiment or lack of piety, patience, diligence, clemency, and fidelity. He urges the importance of his approach in "overcoming scholarly reluctance to take seriously the contribution of piety to the character of excellent rulers and courtiers" (p. 2). He intends his analysis to challenge the idea that Shakespeare's plays reflect a belief "that Christianity's heavenly aspirations necessarily enervate Christian politics" (p. 157). McAfee's writing is very clear and straightforward, and it will be fully accessible to undergraduates at all levels. More advanced scholars will find food for thought in his analyses of character. McAfee provides thorough, and often discursive, footnotes and a highly focused bibliography. Recommended. Undergraduates through faculty." --Choice Reviews

""This study admirably refines our growing awareness of the depth and scope Shakespeare's political wisdom. With masterful attention to the use of dramatic irony in the Bard's four last plays, McAfee demonstrates the complex ways in which vices such as envy and infidelity wound the body politic, and the powerful potential of patience, piety, and other courtly virtues to heal those wounds, to the benefit of rulers and citizens alike."" --Joseph Hebert, St. Ambrose University

""It really is a pleasure to encounter an extended argument on Christain piety in Shakespeare's plays that is so balanced. Unlike other treatments which make dogmatic arguments for one side or the other, McAfee's patient and learned approach is refreshing. It is surprising Shakespeare's mature plays do not receive the attention they deserve. Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare now makes them impossible to ignore.

This will be a welcome addition to the library of both amateur and professional readers interested in Shakespeare and the enduring questions he addresses to thoughtful readers."" --Rafael Major, University of North Texas

About the Author

Nicolas D. McAfee is the Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the Center for Thomas More Studies, located at the University of Dallas.