Living in the past : Thebes, periodization, and The Two Noble Kinsmen
Abstract
Our sense of the distinction between the "medieval" and the "early modern" is structured by two notions: that the early modern period is characterized by the death of a chivalric culture that is dominant in the medieval period; and that the early modern is distinguished from the medieval by its superior historical self-awareness. This essay reassesses these themes through a reading of Shakespeare and Fletcher's The Two Noble Kinsmen (1634). This is a play of knighthood and chivalric spectacle, adapted from Chaucer's Knight's Tale, which brings Chaucer on stage in the play's prologue. Reading the play through a tradition of "Theban" narratives that proliferated from antiquity through the Middle Ages shows that the representation of chivalric culture in The Two Noble Kinsmen constructs a vision of the past very different from how modern accounts distinguish between medieval and early modern cultures.
Citation
Davis , A L 2010 , ' Living in the past : Thebes, periodization, and The Two Noble Kinsmen ' , Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies , vol. 40 , no. 1 , pp. 173-195 . https://doi.org/10.1215/10829636-2009-018
Publication
Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1082-9636Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2010 by Duke University Press. This work is made available online in accordance with publisher policies. Published version also available from DOI: 10.1215/10829636-2009-018
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