Table Of ContentShakespeare and Game of
Thrones
It is widely acknowledged that the hit franchise Game of Thrones is
based on the Wars of the Roses, a bloody fifteenth-century civil war
between feuding English families. In this book, Jeffrey R. Wilson
shows how that connection was mediated by Shakespeare, and how a
knowledge of the Shakespearean context enriches our understanding
of the literary elements of Game of Thrones.
On the one hand, Shakespeare influenced Game of Thrones indi-
rectly because his history plays significantly shaped the way the Wars
of the Roses are now remembered, including the modern histories and
historical fictions George R.R. Martin drew upon. On the other, Game
of Thrones also responds to Shakespeare’s first tetralogy directly by
adapting several of its literary strategies (such as shifting perspectives,
mixed genres, and metatheater) and tropes (including the stigmatized
protagonist and the prince who was promised). Presenting new in-
terviews with the Game of Thrones cast, and comparing contextual
circumstances of composition—such as collaborative authorship
and political currents—this book also lodges a series of provocations
about writing and acting for the stage in the Elizabethan age and for
the screen in the twenty-first century.
An essential read for fans of the franchise, as well as students and
academics looking at Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in the
context of modern media.
Jeffrey R. Wilson is a faculty member in the Writing Program at Har-
vard University, USA, where he teaches the Why Shakespeare? section
of the university’s first-year writing course. Focused on intersections
of Renaissance literature and modern sociology, his work has ap-
peared in academic journals such as Modern Language Quarterly,
Genre, and College Literature, and public venues like National Public
Radio, Salon, and MLA’s Profession.
Shakespeare and Game of
Thrones
Jeffrey R. Wilson
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Jeffrey R. Wilson
The right of Jeffrey R. Wilson to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wilson, Jeffrey R. (Jeffrey Robert), 1982– author.
Title: Shakespeare and Game of thrones / Jeffrey R. Wilson.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020027376 (print) | LCCN 2020027377 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367483920 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003039662 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Game of thrones (Television program) |
Martin, George R. R. Song of ice and fire. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Influence. |
History on television. | Literature and history. |
Great Britain—History—Wars of the Roses,
1455–1485—Literature and the war.
Classification: LCC PN1992.77.G35 W54 2021 (print) |
LCC PN1992.77.G35 (ebook) | DDC 791.45/72—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027376
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027377
ISBN: 978-0-367-48392-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-03966-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
For the Why Shakespeare? students
Contents
List of figures ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 The Tudor myth 9
2 Martin’s Shakespeare 17
3 The Shakespearean slingshot 23
4 Composition history and co(rporate)-authorship 37
5 From true tragedy to historical fantasy 41
6 Comical-tragical-historical-pastoral: mixed genre 45
7 Narrative relief: from comedy to nudity 48
8 Spectacle and success from the medieval church
service to CGI 53
9 Game of Thrones as Shakespearean
performance: interviews with the actors 57
10 External predictability, internal unpredictability 67
viii Contents
11 Eddard as Gloucester: De Casibus Virorum Illustrium 69
12 Wars of roses: a literary trope in social life 74
13 The stigmatized protagonist: the tragic model
and the heroic model 79
14 Girl power: mimetic feminism and rhetorical misogyny 85
15 Generic bias: gender, race, criticism 92
16 The Bloody Hand: intertextual metatheater 101
17 The Targaryen myth 107
18 How George R.R. Martin changed the ending
of Game of Thrones 110
19 Fandom as IKEA effect 115
Index 122
Figures
I.1 Mya Lixian Gosling, “Happy 451st Birthday,
Shakespeare!” Good Tickle Brain (April 23, 2015), https://
goodticklebrain.com/home/2015/4/22/happy-451st-
birthday-shakespeare 4
1.1 The Tudor Myth: a genealogy 11
1.2 The Targaryen Myth: a genealogy 14
2.1 “England at the Time of the Conquest,” in vol. 1 of
Thomas B. Costain, A History of the Plantagenets
(New York: Doubleday, 1949–62), front matter 18
3.1 Shakespeare on screen, 1898–2014, showing relative
popularity 25
3.2 Shakespeare on screen, 1915–2014, showing relative
popularity 25
9.1 Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, on set with her
“dragon.” Image from Pixomondo, “Game of Thrones
Season 4 Making Of,” YouTube (Jan. 29, 2015), https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssJwFjyS7q8 58
11.1 Visual effect of Ned Stark’s head on a spike in Game of
Thrones (1.10) 69
11.2 Visual effect of Richard, Duke of York’s head on a
spike in The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, dir.
Dominic Cooke (BBC, 2016). Episode 2 70
19.1 Shakespeare’s first tetralogy: the nested plots 117
19.2 Game of Thrones: the nested plots 118
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the students in our Why Shakespeare? class—to whom
this book is dedicated—for the pleasure and privilege of working
with so many amazing minds over many years. Much of this book
grew from classroom conversations during the two years we studied
Game of Thrones alongside Shakespeare’s first tetralogy. I’m especially
grateful to several students whose essays prompted and refined cer-
tain lines of thought: Harry Fu (Chapter 10), Iman Lavery (Chapter
18), Cinthya Meza (Chapter 12), and Diana Myers (Chapter 13). I also
benefitted from conversations and comments on the manuscript from
colleagues, including Guillermina Altomonte, Kavita Mudan Finn,
Ella Frigyik, Ronan Hatfull, Steve Purcell, Amy Rodgers, Lauren
Swiderski (@ShakesOfThrones), Jessica Walker, W.B. Worthen, Rose
Wynn (@HollowCrownFans), and Jess Zimmerman. I appreciate sup-
port and encouragement from Brooke Carlson, Ambereen Dadabhoy,
Marina Gerzic, Peter C. Herman, Thomas Johnson, Maria Devlin
McNair, James McNamara, Stephen O’Neill, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner,
and Melissa Rohrer. I’m grateful to Julian Glover, Conleth Hill, and
Anton Lesser for providing interviews, and to Richard Johnston,
Rachael Swanston, and Vena Dacent for facilitating these conversa-
tions. Karen Heath and Tom John provided helpful guidance when I
was teaching these texts, and Becky Skolnik and Colleen Desrosiers
Laude helped create the classrooms where our conversations took
place. Polly Dodson shepherded the book through the publication
process at Routledge, with key contributions from Zoe Meyer, Fiona
Hudson Gabuya, and Manikandan Kuppan.
Game of Thrones and Shakespeare matter to me for the same reason:
not for their literary quality, which I don’t really know how to judge, but
for the conversations they can create, especially those that go beyond
academia. I always looked forward to talking about Game of Thrones
with my barber, Sam McDonald. I especially enjoyed conversations
