Regicide
English Lit: OCR A Level - Hamlet, topic 6.1.4
Regicide in Elizabethan England
As part of the belief in a cosmic hierarchy which placed the monarch just below God and his angels, regicide (the killing of a king or queen) was considered a terrible crime.
Removing corrupt rulers
- A monarch had been appointed by God to do His work, and only God could remove him or her.
- However, there was still some sympathy for the republican tradition of ancient Rome which argued that a corrupt ruler should be removed.
- Shakespeare had explored the tension between these opposing beliefs in the tragedy which came immediately before Hamlet – Julius Caesar (1599).
Challenge to authority
- As Jonathan Bate has argued, "drama thrives on disorder" and part of the thrill of Shakespeare’s plays lies in the challenge to authority in plays such as Julius Caesar.
- However, we should remember that Shakespeare’s plays always end with the restoration of order.
Test yourself on Regicide
In which play does Shakespeare explore the tension between the Divine Right of rulers and Roman republican tradition of removing corrupt rulers?