THE INFLUENCE OF VERGIL'S AENEID ON SHAKESPEARE'S HENRIAD A Thesis Presented to ...

113 Pages·2014·0.43 MB·English

by  Annie Hor

THE INFLUENCE OF VERGIL’S AENEID ON SHAKESPEARE’S
HENRIAD

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty
of
California State University, Stanislaus

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
of Master of Arts in English
By
Alexander Woodmansee
December 2014
CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL

THE INFLUENCE OF VERGIL’S AENEID ON SHAKESPEARE’S
HENRIAD
by
Alexander Woodmansee

Signed Certification of Approval Page is on file with the
University Library

Dr. Tony Perrello Date
Professor of English

Dr. Andrew Dorsey Date
Professor of English

Dr. Arnold Schmidt Date
Professor of English
© 2014

Alexander Woodmansee
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
DEDICATION

I dedicate this thesis and all of the hard work it required to my wife Kelly. I
couldn’t have done this without you.

iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge my first English teacher, my
mother Leigh. She did not give up on me when I was behind in reading and writing in
elementary school. I would not be half the writer I am today without her.
I want to thank my thesis chair, Dr. Perrello, for not only working with me for
more than a year to turn a vague interest in the epic form into a focused thesis, but for
making Shakespeare fun for me for the first time. Without his undergraduate
Shakespeare course I might never have been introduced to Hal and Falstaff and I
certainly would not have found the same joy in their jokes.
In addition to Dr. Perrello, I want to specifically acknowledge Dr. Schmidt
and Dr. Dorsey for their help in the creation of this thesis. Not only did these
professors offer insightful commentary during the thesis defense, they taught me the
skills that made the thesis possible in the first place. From Dr. Schmidt I acquired the
foundation of my understanding critical thought and its application. Dr. Dorsey
showed me how to properly interrogate arguments and sources. I am proud to look at
this work and know that it was influenced by so many great teachers.

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE

Dedication ............................................................................................................... iv

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. v

Abstract ................................................................................................................... vii

Chapter I: Vergil’s Influence on Shakespeare’s Epic ............................................. 1

Chapter II: Richard II, The Epic Promised in Prophesy ......................................... 18

Chapter III: Henry IV, the Man Cursed by Fate ..................................................... 43

Chapter IV: Henry V, Of Arms............................................................................... 70

References ............................................................................................................... 104

vi
ABSTRACT

Shakespeare’s second tetralogy was given the name The Henriad was given that title
by Alvin Kernan in recognition of its epic qualities. This thesis is a study of the
uniquely Vergilian construction of Shakespeare’s epic. Vergil’s Aeneid and
Shakespeare’s Henriad share s similar format and that support the equally
nationalistic intent of both epics. The first six books of The Aeneid constitute an epic
of return based on the restoration of Aeneas after the death of his father. The second
six books, during which Aeneas prosecutes an all-out war with the Latin natives, are
cast in the form of an epic of wrath. Henry IV Parts One and Two form the epic of
return and Henry V is an epic of wrath condensed into a single play. The theme of
kingship is resolved through the restoration of the English throne at Hal coronation.
The theme of war is developed along similar lines in The Henriad and Aeneid. Both
epics develop military campaigns from inception to bloody conclusion that focus on
the morality of wrathful actions in the name of nation. The theme of kings and their
development highlights the moral stance of the authors and the nations they attempt
to represent in their epics. Richard II, the first play of The Henriad, functions the
same as Book Two of The Aeneid. These stories are used to provide context for the
epic and provide the basis of grievous wrongs to be righted by the each of the epic
heroes. Examining the plays of The Henriad according to their epic form and function
demonstrates Shakespeare’s replacement and often inversion of Vergil’s Roman
values with his own Elizabethan ethics.
vii
CHAPTER I: VERGIL’S INFLUENCE ON SHAKESPEARE’S HENRAID
Consideration of Shakespeare’s second tetralogy as The Henriad1 is a
relatively new approach to the study of the history plays. The collective title The
Henriad for Richard II, Henry IV Parts One and Two, and Henry V is used in
reference to the combined epic qualities of the four plays. Kernan makes the general,
yet no less accurate, claim that the plays of The Henriad “have remarkable coherence
and they do possess that quality which in our time we take to be the chief
characteristic of epic: a large-scale, heroic action involving many men and many
activities, tracing the movement of a nation or people through violent change from
one condition to another” (246). The application of the epic form frames
Shakespeare’s construction of England. Examination of The Henriad in relation to the
epic tradition and specifically epic tropes offers insights into Early Modern English
subjects ranging from the historical and political to the psychological and spiritual. A
different, yet no less recent, development in Shakespearean scholarship is the study of
Vergil’s influence on Shakespeare. Robert Miola, while not the originator, is one of
the foremost champions of the study of Vergil’s influence on Shakespeare. He asserts
that Shakespeare grappled with the pervasive Early Modern influence of Vergil
throughout his entire career. Despite Miola’s assertion that Vergil had a career
spanning influence on Shakespeare, research on the subject has been confined
primarily to Shakespeare’s Roman plays and the Tempest. The confluence of these

1 Term coined by Alvin Kernan “The Henriad: Shakespeare’s Major Historical Plays” (1970).
1
2

areas of interest is naturally the study of the influence of Vergil’s Aeneid on
Shakespeare’s Henriad. While critics on both sides of these areas of research have
brushed the edges of the topic of the influence of The Aeneid on The Henriad, a
dedicated study has yet to be produced. This thesis is an attempt to bridge the gap
between these branches of research to provide a study of the uniquely Vergilian
influence of The Aeneid on the form and function of Shakespeare’s Henriad.
Shakespeare’s plays demonstrate a career long awareness and anxiety of
Vergil’s influence2. Miola and other critics established that Vergil in particular among
the many classical sources that permeated Early Modern England, was the chief
influence on Shakespeare’s mythology. Miola succinctly outlines the Shakespeare’s
uses of Vergilian texts in “Vergil in Shakespeare: From Allusion to Imitation.”
Throughout his career Shakespeare shows a working familiarity with
Vergil’s text and a strong attraction to his art. In early works like Titus
Andronicus and Lucrece Shakespeare’s allusions to Vergil smell of the
lamp: they are labored, ostentatious, and self-congratulatory. Later by
about the turn of the century, the allusions become subtle and sharply
controlled. In Julius Caesar and Hamlet smoothly-integrated allusion
to Vergil provide point and irony. In Shakespeare’s last phase
extensive treatment of Vergilian idea an image broadens allusion to
eristic imitation. The final mode is radically transformative: in works

2 T.W. Baldwin. William Shakespeare’s Small Latin and Lesse Greeke offers a thorough investigation
of the classical texts Shakespeare would have been exposed to in school and an extensive catalog of
their presence in his works.
3

like Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest the Vergilian sub-text
assumes new life and meaning as Shakespeare adapts it to articulate
his own visions of love and civilization. (242)
Miola’s timeline accurately articulates several of Shakespeare responses to Vergil’s
influence. Shakespeare early attempts to resist Vergil’s influence swerve away from
or complete the Roman poet’s works. The final form, which Miola references, can be
viewed as analogous with Harold Bloom’s final form of creative misprision. The
focus of this study is the six years from Titus Andronicus to Hamlet, 1594-1600, that
even Miola, and other critics arguing for examination of Shakespeare’s use of Vergil.
The Henriad fills the six year gap in Miola’s timeline and is an example of
Shakespeare’s final form of reaction to Vergil’s influence.
Shakespeare’s Henriad thoroughly encapsulates the diverse threads of
meaning within The Aeneid. While generally commenting on the epic structure of
Shakespeare’s epic, George de Forest Lord describes The Henriad connection to the
epic tradition as, “Not only are the civil wars and crisis of succession to the throne of
England as momentous as the Trojan War or the founding of the Roman empire, but
Shakespeare went further than Homer in The Iliad and Vergil in The Aeneid by
representing the consequences of civil disorder in the daily lives of ordinary subjects
as well as in the lives of the great. In this respect one might claim that The Henriad
outdoes its epic predecessors in scope by combining the high public concerns of The
Iliad and The Aeneid with the humbler concerns of domestic life glimpsed in The
Odyssey” (81). The influence Vergil has had on Shakespeare’s construction of