Surpassing the Kin's Two Bodies: The Politics Of Staging the Royal Effigy in Marlowe's Edward II

The large number of wardrobe items listed in administrative accounts would have been intended not for the royal corpse, which historians assume was not visible during the funeral, but for the effigy. Because explicit descriptions of Edward II's effigy do not exist, records of Edward IIFs effigy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Shakespeare bulletin 2014-12, Vol.32 (4), p.585
Main Author: Anderson, Thomas P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Mitchell, David
Politics
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The large number of wardrobe items listed in administrative accounts would have been intended not for the royal corpse, which historians assume was not visible during the funeral, but for the effigy. Because explicit descriptions of Edward II's effigy do not exist, records of Edward IIFs effigy provide a sense of the ritual initiated by his father's: the impres- sion of likeness was achieved through paint and hair; the head may have been taken from a cast of the death mask. According to Nardizzi, "the woodenness of Stump's body can also shed light on the materiality of the abled human body" (121)-specifically, Stump's "prostheticized body discloses the woodenness common to all bodies" (121). [...]this detour through the play's representation of the sodomiti- cal attack illustrates the unique, material way that the historical record paradoxically informs this play even as the play itself erases the matter of history. [...]while the corporation could take the form of 'corporate sole' of the king, in time it comes to be equated with the corporate body of the people" (87-88).
ISSN:0748-2558
1931-1427