Shakespeare and Succession Crisis: Shakespeare's Reimagining of Elizabeth I's Legacy in Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, and King Lear (thesis)

Abstract

If Shakespeare's works can tell us anything, it is that the Elizabethan time was one filled with as much uncertainty as our own. There was no surety that we would all remember Elizabeth as the greatest queen in English history or Shakespeare as one of the greatest writers that the world has ever known. It is this uncertainty and controversy that makes for the best literature because it will always be applicable to every generation. There is something wonderfully terrifying about never knowing how we will be remembered or what will come next. Shakespeare remembers Elizabeth in the years after her as something entirely different than what we choose to see. His critique of her reign and retelling of her legacy is one that has endured quietly throughout the centuries, hidden in some of his most famous works. While we have remembered her strength and power, he reminds us that security is never guaranteed. [From Conclusion]