Followed by a Body Shadow: Richard the Second, by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s Richard the Second, published in 1595, suggests an interpretation of the value and essence of kingship. According to the German historian, Ernst Kantorowicz, kings have two bodies, the body political and the body natural, which allow him to exist on both a physical and a metaphysical level, and thus maintain a dual existence. In this essay, I will argue that the king has, in fact, three bodies - which can resolve different paradoxes that derive from the duality of Kantorowicz’s two bodies.
The characteristics of the body natural identify a human being as subjective, experience through their senses, and are ephemeral. The body political, on the other hand, characterizes …show more content…
I suggest that there is a more comprehensive view regarding the king’s bodies. If the king is divided into two bodies, or rather the two separate bodies constitute a king, then the composed unity of the king itself can be considered as a third body. This third body is a sort of container which allows the body political and the body natural to coexist within a king. Thus, the body natural is equal to one body, the body political equals the second body, and the entire unit of the two bodies is equivalent to a third …show more content…
According to the category of “Pantheism”, the world consists of one unit which is equivalent to God, and everything else that exists either on a tangible level or on an intangible level, is part of God. Trying to define the king in this category is specious, since Pantheism does not seem to identify the king as more divine than anyone or anything else that exists within the unit of God. Looking at the second category, “Panentheism”, the world consists of one unit which is equivalent to God as well, only in this category everything that exists and can be perceived in the world is a representation of God. Thus, kings in this category are indeed representations of God, but similarly, so are people and animals and everything else that exist. And thus once again, the king cannot be perceived as more divine than anyone else. Therefore, the only remaining category in Theism that is left to examine is the “Separate Entities”: one entity is God and the second is the world that we live in. Trying to fit a king into this category, we could place him both within the entity of God, and within the entity of the world. This is consistent with Kantorowicz’s “Two Bodies”, and it portrays both the duality and division within Richard. On the other hand, placing the king in this category raises different problems. It is hard to perceive a king who exists as mortal in
Shakespeare’s Richard the Second, published in 1595, suggests an interpretation of the value and essence of kingship. According to the German historian, Ernst Kantorowicz, kings have two bodies, the body political and the body natural, which allow him to exist on both a physical and a metaphysical level, and thus maintain a dual existence. In this essay, I will argue that the king has, in fact, three bodies - which can resolve different paradoxes that derive from the duality of Kantorowicz’s two bodies.
The characteristics of the body natural identify a human being as subjective, experience through their senses, and are ephemeral. The body political, on the other hand, characterizes …show more content…
I suggest that there is a more comprehensive view regarding the king’s bodies. If the king is divided into two bodies, or rather the two separate bodies constitute a king, then the composed unity of the king itself can be considered as a third body. This third body is a sort of container which allows the body political and the body natural to coexist within a king. Thus, the body natural is equal to one body, the body political equals the second body, and the entire unit of the two bodies is equivalent to a third …show more content…
According to the category of “Pantheism”, the world consists of one unit which is equivalent to God, and everything else that exists either on a tangible level or on an intangible level, is part of God. Trying to define the king in this category is specious, since Pantheism does not seem to identify the king as more divine than anyone or anything else that exists within the unit of God. Looking at the second category, “Panentheism”, the world consists of one unit which is equivalent to God as well, only in this category everything that exists and can be perceived in the world is a representation of God. Thus, kings in this category are indeed representations of God, but similarly, so are people and animals and everything else that exist. And thus once again, the king cannot be perceived as more divine than anyone else. Therefore, the only remaining category in Theism that is left to examine is the “Separate Entities”: one entity is God and the second is the world that we live in. Trying to fit a king into this category, we could place him both within the entity of God, and within the entity of the world. This is consistent with Kantorowicz’s “Two Bodies”, and it portrays both the duality and division within Richard. On the other hand, placing the king in this category raises different problems. It is hard to perceive a king who exists as mortal in