Shakespeare and the Hispanic

Jonathan P. A. Sell (University of Alcalá)
In 1758, at the height of the Seven Years War, when Anglo-French hostility raged on battlefield and page alike, London and Lisbon merchant and minor playwright William Shirley switched Francophobia for Hispanophobia and introduced the bullfight into his criticism of David Garrick’s acting. Although Shirley’s essay was fuelled by personal animus towards the controversial actor-manager, the bullfighting analogy throws interesting light on the literary enthusiasm which nourished growing bardolatry but also had unsettling social and political implications, epitomised in the emerging cult of celebrity. Shirley’s historically apposite comparison of Garrick with the bullfighter casts Spain as the despotic counter-image of a polite Britain alarmingly exposed to the horns of popular taste.

Luis Conejero (University of Extremedura)

The portrayal of John of Gaunt by Shakespeare is not isolated. Rather, it may find its roots in the flourishing depiction of this mediaeval ruler on the London stage following the defeat of the Spanish Armada. This presence is evidenced not only in Shakespeare’s Richard II but also in Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy or in lost plays like Conquest of Spain by John of Gaunt, as recorded in Henslowe’s Diary. Indeed, Gaunt’s involvement in the Iberian campaigns is depicted in literature as a justifiable exercise of military power, shaping his character as a heroic figure. Moving between history and literature, this paper examines Gaunt’s Spanish odyssey and how his claim to the crown of Castile was perceived by English society, thus exploring themes of nationalism and religion. In the process, it uncovers how a character with deep Spanish ties could be transformed to embody ideas closer to the Renaissance and a patriotic English heroism on the Elizabethan stage.

Alexander Samson (UCL)

England’s early colonial endeavours took inspiration from the example of Spain, starting with translation, before literally staging scenes of colonial encounter and imperial struggle. The Islamic World and contact with others in Africa, Asia and the Americas frequently reached England through Spain. Departing from an exploration of some of the possible Iberian sources of knowledge for this wider world, this paper reflects on how representations of global geography constituted an early modern brand of Hispanic Orientalism. From the pastoral to romances of chivalry and parodic counter romance (the imperial struggle with the Turk animating Don Quixote), poetry both epic and domestic, and scientific knowledge, from Dioscorides to cartography, a series of texts negotiated a changing world in which the balance of power seesawed between and amongst different European and extra-European powers as the relative importance of religion, race and culture came into focus. Views about intermarriage, race, power, and identity foundered on the rocks of endogamous/exogamous practices bound up with family politics, on one level dynasticism and on another domestic drama or tragedy. To assimilate, disavow or erase were three possible responses, but often representations combined all three and their instability speaks to an irreducible residue that continued the haunt England’s global ambitious which continued to be forged in relation to the Hispanic well into the 18th century and beyond.

This event is organised by UCL Early Modern Exchanges, which is part of UCL's Institute of Advanced Studies.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

IAS Forum (G17), UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom