Shakespeare's plays Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Gregory M. Colón Semenza

Critical Essay by Gregory M. Colón Semenza

SOURCE: Colón Semenza, Gregory M. “Sport, War, and Contest in Shakespeare's Henry VI.” Renaissance Quarterly 54, no. 2 (winter 2001): 1251-72.

In the following essay, Colón Semenza suggests that the decay of chivalric ideals, radical changes in the nature of warfare, and the clash of personal rivalries chronicled in the Henry VI trilogy are enhanced by Shakespeare's use throughout these plays of sport as a metaphor for war. The critic points out that allusions to warfare as a kind of competitive sport increase as Henry's nobles discard traditional concern with political principles and the common good in favor of pursuing their own ambitions.

When, in 1 Henry VI, a Messenger of the Countess of Auvergne requests that Talbot visit his lady's castle, Burgundy derisively remarks:

I see our wars Will turn unto a peaceful comic sport, When ladies crave to be encountered with.

(2.2.44-6)¹

Burgundy's scoff seizes upon one...
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