Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare: A Way Out of the Wreck [Hardcover]

The four last plays of Shakespeares First FolioCymbeline,The Tempest,Henry VIII, andThe Winters Taleprovide underappreciated resources for political thought and reflection.Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare: A Way Out of the Wreckexamines the ruling communities in each of these plays, exploring what virtues are dramatized as necessary in a courtiers 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 virtuespatience, piety, fidelity, clemency, and diligencewhich 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 ofHenry VIII, chart for themselves a way out of the wreck.Nicolas D. McAfee is the Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the Center for Thomas More Studies, located at the University of Dallas.

InPolitical Wisdom in Late Shakespeare,McAfee devotes one chapter each toCymbeline,Henry VIII,The Winters Tale, andThe Tempest. McAfees 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 Shakespeares plays reflect a belielCˆ