In King Cambyses' Vein Representing Achaemenid Royal Figures in The Godly Queen Hester, The Story of King Darius and Cambyses

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter explores the thematic significance and metatheatrical role of the figure of the monarch in three early Renaissance plays set in ancient Persia: The Godly Queen Hester, The Story of King Darius and Cambyses. The chapter tries to show that while the allegorical usefulness of the Persian kings hindered their development into the fully fledged characters of late Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, the secularization of Biblical narratives about Persian kings in the interludes and the excessive cruelty of King Cambyses in the eponymous play result in the explosion of the medieval structure. New paradigms of human subjectivity emerge from the transition.
Original languageAmerican English
Title of host publicationThe Monarch and the (Non)-Human in Literature and Cinema: Western and Global Perspectives
EditorsNIZAR ZOUIDI
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter2
Number of pages14
ISBN (Electronic)9781032423814
ISBN (Print) 9781003830511
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Publication series

NamePerspectives on the Non-Human in Literature and Culture
PublisherRoutledge

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