-
Kent's Best Man: Radical Chorographic Consciousness and the Identity Politics of Local History in Shakespeare's 2 Henry VI
- Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies
- University of Pennsylvania Press
- Volume 14, Number 1, Winter 2014
- pp. 63-87
- 10.1353/jem.2014.0009
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
In this article, the character of Jack Cade in Shakespeare's 2 Henry VI is reconsidered through an exploration of the local history and traditions of Kent. The article shows that Shakespeare, through Cade and his followers, created a sense of local historical consciousness that directly challenges the structures of chronicle history and manifests itself in various acts of self-affirmation. In particular, Shakespeare departed from his sources by giving Cade a Kentish identity. Furthermore, the article offers a challenge to the modern critical consensus that Shakespeare made Cade more violent than he was in the play's chronicle sources.