Theaters of Pardoning: Tragicomedy and the Gunpowder Plot

Meyler, Bernadette A.

Abstract

Download This Paper | Share | Email |Add to Briefcase | Purchase Bound Hard Copy

Theaters of Pardoning: Tragicomedy and the Gunpowder Plot

Bernadette A. Meyler

Cornell University - School of Law

2002

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 25, 2002

Abstract:
This article examines the dramatic character of King James I’s reaction to the 1605 Gunpowder Plot - the first act of terrorism in the West - and his attempts both to inscribe the unprecedented crime within the conventional structure of revenge tragedy and to interpret the event according to a model of tragicomedy indebted to John of Patmos' apocalyptic Revelation. On account of applying these cultural and religious paradigms, the King suggested that Parliament be entrusted with judging the conspirators, thus imaginatively displacing his sovereignty onto it.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 50

Keywords: sovereignty, terrorism, King James I, drama, revenge tragedy, apocalypse

Accepted Paper Series

Download This Paper

Date posted: August 25, 2009

Suggested Citation

Meyler, Bernadette A., Theaters of Pardoning: Tragicomedy and the Gunpowder Plot (2002). Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 25, 2002. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1337184

Contact Information

Bernadette A. Meyler (Contact Author)

Cornell University - School of Law ( email )

524 College Ave
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States
607-255-6045 (Phone)