리처드와 볼링브룩의 자리 바꾸기: 『리처드 2세』 (Displacement between Richard and Bullingbrook in Richard II)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국셰익스피어학회
· 수록지 정보 : Shakespeare Review / 45권 / 4호 / 555 ~ 576페이지
· 저자명 : 홍옥숙

초록

Richard II was considered as a controversial play by the Elizabethan people for it contained the tabooed issue of a king's deposition at the time. Shakespeare dodges this problematic issue by describing Richard II as an unable king to rule and making him give up his crown of his own accord. However, the author still endows Richard, deprived of political power, theatrical power instead to reveal Bullingbrook's political ambition.
The two key scenes in the play are the tournament scene in which Bullingbrook challenges Richard and is banished from England, and the deposition scene in which Richard relinquishes his crown but at the same time defines Bullingbrook as the usurper. According to Jacques Lacan's theory of the signifying chain, subjects are under the control of the signifiant in the symbolic order. Interestingly enough, the status of the two characters in the play is reversed: Although Bullingbrook and Richard seem to dominate in each scene mentioned above, in fact it is the crown, the signifiant in the play that takes the initiative in displacing these two characters. Only after losing his political power can Richard raise his voice to reveal his rival's secret desire to take the crown. On the other hand, Bullingbrook cannot but remain silent and watch Richard hold the stage set up by him, because he is subject to the signifiant, which is the crown.
Through the power of the powerless, which is characterized by the speech and theatricality, Shakespeare seems to emphasize the weakness and instability of power that cannot but be undermined from within. Those who have power cannot ignore the power of the signifiant, which is the expressed symbol of their secret desire for power, and the speech of powerless characters reveals their desire. When Lacan's idea of the signifying chain is applied, it is easily seen that Richard and Bullingbrook are subject to the crown, the symbol of political power, and these two characters change their places in accordance with their relation to the crown.

영어초록

Richard II was considered as a controversial play by the Elizabethan people for it contained the tabooed issue of a king's deposition at the time. Shakespeare dodges this problematic issue by describing Richard II as an unable king to rule and making him give up his crown of his own accord. However, the author still endows Richard, deprived of political power, theatrical power instead to reveal Bullingbrook's political ambition.
The two key scenes in the play are the tournament scene in which Bullingbrook challenges Richard and is banished from England, and the deposition scene in which Richard relinquishes his crown but at the same time defines Bullingbrook as the usurper. According to Jacques Lacan's theory of the signifying chain, subjects are under the control of the signifiant in the symbolic order. Interestingly enough, the status of the two characters in the play is reversed: Although Bullingbrook and Richard seem to dominate in each scene mentioned above, in fact it is the crown, the signifiant in the play that takes the initiative in displacing these two characters. Only after losing his political power can Richard raise his voice to reveal his rival's secret desire to take the crown. On the other hand, Bullingbrook cannot but remain silent and watch Richard hold the stage set up by him, because he is subject to the signifiant, which is the crown.
Through the power of the powerless, which is characterized by the speech and theatricality, Shakespeare seems to emphasize the weakness and instability of power that cannot but be undermined from within. Those who have power cannot ignore the power of the signifiant, which is the expressed symbol of their secret desire for power, and the speech of powerless characters reveals their desire. When Lacan's idea of the signifying chain is applied, it is easily seen that Richard and Bullingbrook are subject to the crown, the symbol of political power, and these two characters change their places in accordance with their relation to the crown.

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