State and Commonwealth: The Theory of the State in Early Modern England, 1549–1640. Noah Dauber. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. xiv + 264 pp. $27.

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 316-318
Author(s):  
Nicholas Popper
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
The State ◽  
Princeton University

“Vows to the Blackest Devil”: Hamlet and the Evolving Code of Honor in Early Modern England

1999 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 1070-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reta A. Terry
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
The State ◽  
Honor Code ◽  
Honor System ◽  
The Individual ◽  
State Analysis

The Renaissance was a period in which the honor code underwent a significant metamorphosis. The medieval, chivalric code of honor, with its emphasis on lineage, allegiance to one's lord and violence, evolved into an honor code that was both more moral and political in that it began to emphasize the individual conscience and allegience to the state. Analysis of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and in particular its characters' use of promise, provides new and revealing insights into the evolving Renaissance codes of honor, for Shakespeare creates characters in Hamlet that represent various stages in the evolution of a changing honor system.

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