Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2002

Keywords

Sovereignty, Terrorism, King James I, Revenge tragedy, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Law and literature

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Comparative Literature | Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law | History | Legal History

Abstract

This article examines the dramatic character of King James I’s reaction to the 1605 Gunpowder Plot - the first act of terrorism in the West - and his attempts both to inscribe the unprecedented crime within the conventional structure of revenge tragedy and to interpret the event according to a model of tragicomedy indebted to John of Patmos' apocalyptic Revelation. On account of applying these cultural and religious paradigms, the King suggested that Parliament be entrusted with judging the conspirators, thus imaginatively displacing his sovereignty onto it.

Comments

Article predates the author's affiliation with Cornell Law School.

Publication Citation

Published in: Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, vol. 25 (2002).

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