Author Bio:
Ellie Valentine is a fourth-year student of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. She is Deputy Editor-In-Chief at ESLJ and writes freelance for other university publications. She enjoys reading texts that play around with conventional forms of narrative, pushing literature to its limits. When not reading/ writing/ editing, she is often found in the kitchen, chatting in a coffee shop, or with her dog.
Abstract:
This essay examines the interplay between family and state in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Henry IV Part 1. In each play, familial relationships both reflect and disrupt societal and political order. Conflicts within families—such as the Capulet-Montague feud, Prince Hal’s tensions with his father, and Hamlet’s fraught lineage—spill into the public sphere, destabilizing the broader community. Shakespeare portrays the family as deeply intertwined with statecraft, where loyalty to familial bonds often clashes with political obligations. Ultimately, the plays reveal the dominance of the state over family, as political imperatives subsume personal relationships and individual desires, driving the tragedies forward.
Read the full essay here:
Great read, great writer!