Abstract

Although most studies of Shakespeare's first tetralogy of English history plays concern themselves with the structure of power, the roles of witchcraft and diabolism, elements central to 1 Henry VI and Richard III--the first and last plays of the tetralogy--have not been fully analyzed. Witchcraft, introduced by Shakespeare as a structural device with the portrayal of Joan of Arc in 1 Henry VI, is demonstrated to be, iconographically, rhetorically, and critically, linked with rebellion, carnival, and misrule. The demonic paradigm that gradually emerges as the tetralogy develops is taken to be an expression of power--political and metaphysical--the end result being the apotheosis of the profane.