George Chapman’ın Ceasar and Pompey Trajedisi ve Arabulucu Cato

Year 2020, Issue: 44, 55 - 70, 26.12.2020

Hediye Özkan

https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.845326

Abstract

Klasik Roma geçmişi, antik siyasi karakterler ve yaşayan gerçek şahsiyetler arasında edebi ilişkiler kurmak isteyen oyun yazarlarına zengin bir kaynak sağlamıştır. İhmal edilmiş on yedinci yüzyıl yazarlarından George Chapman, Caesar ve Pompey: Bir Trajedi adlı oyununda, Roma Cumhuriyeti alegorisini İngiltere’yi iç savaşa sürükleyen siyasi anlaşmazlıklara cevaben kullanmıştır. Bu oyun aracılığıyla, Chapman İngiltere tarihinin belirli siyasi olaylarına tekabül eden olası senaryoları aktarmaktadır. Bu makale, Chapman’nın oyununu, üç krallığı 1642’de iç savaşa sürükleyen Birinci Charles ve Parlamenterler arasındaki anlaşmazlığı anlatan siyasi bir alegori olduğunu yeni tarihselcilik açısından incelemektedir. Bu çalışma, oyunda resmedilen Roma Cumhuriyetini Erken Modern Dünya ile ilişkisi açısından okuyarak, Cato karakterinin nasıl Chapman’nın sesi ve ayrımcıdan ziyade sıkı bir uzlaşma taraftarı olduğunu tartışır. Bu bağlamda, Roma cumhuriyetinin kanlı tarihini Kraliçe Elizabeth döneminde İngiltere siyasetinin geleceği için bir uyarı olarak kullanan Chapman hakkındaki bilgiye katkı sağlanması amaçlanmıştır.

Keywords

Caesar and Pompey, George Chapman, İngiliz Rönesans Draması, Roma Cumhuriyeti, yeni tarihselcilik

George Chapman’s Caesar and Pompey and Cato as the Mediator

Abstract

The classical Roman past has been a rich source for the playwrights who desire to make literary connections between the ancient political characters and real life figures. George Chapman, a neglected playwright of the seventeenth century, uses the Roman Empire allegory in Caesar and Pompey: A Roman Tragedy (1631) to respond to the political dissagreements which lead England into the Civil War. Through Caesar and Pompey, Chapman conveys possible scenarios that correspond to specific political events in the history of early modern England. Using new historicism as a theoretical framework, this paper analyzes Chapman’s play as a political allegory of the dispute between Charles I and Parliamentarians, leading the three kingdoms into war in 1642. Drawing a parallel between the Roman republic depicted in the play and the specific moments of early modern world, this paper discusses how Cato acts as Chapman’s mouthpiece and the ardent supporter of political negotiation rather than conflict. Thus, the paper contributes to the scholarship about Chapman who uses the history of Roman republic as a warning for the future of English politics during the Elizabethan period.

Keywords

Caesar and Pompey, George Chapman, English Renaissance Drama, Roman Republic, new historicism

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