Censorship and Self-censorship: Taboo Topics in the Representation of Richard II

Rooted in Polynesian origins, the term “taboo” expresses concepts relating to both sacredness and danger which, as Freud and Frazer have shown, also apply to figures of authority. This paper investigates how these taboos are manifest in the representation of Richard II in three plays: The Life and Death of Jack Straw, Shakespeare’s Richard II, and the anonymous Thomas of Woodstock. These texts, while all dealing with the same controversial monarch, offer different approaches to the depiction of royal authority, rebellion, and censorship. This paper examines the ways in which boundaries of political discourse were shaped by both explicit censorship and self-censorship, particularly in relation to the depiction of the king’s failures and the social consequences of his rule. It highlights the role of taboos in early modern political theatre, revealing how the sacred and dangerous nature of kingship was negotiated on stage and how these themes were managed through complex strategies of language, silence, and omission.