The Tree that Hides the Man

“The huge greate Oke was once a plant.” This observation, found in Timothy Kendall’s anthology Flower of epigrammes (1577), seems to state the obvious: trees do grow from smaller (and frailer) plants and are subject to time. Yet this contrasts with the emblematic oak of early modern poetry and political theory – a symbol of strength, immutability, and royal majesty. As Andrew McRae (2012) notes, however, “the politics of the oak – and of trees more generally” – were not as settled in the sixteenth century as they would become later, thus paving the way for all sorts of rhetorical play. Focusing on the anonymous play Thomas of Woodstock (c. 1591-1595), this article explores how such arboreal symbols as the oak were manipulated and subverted on stage. This article argues that the play, in interrogating the use and misuse of trees – both as rhetorical tropes and as concrete natural elements – subtly challenges core tenets of royal orthodoxy. It questions the merging of the king’s two bodies and undermines the king’s uniqueness, thereby unveiling the fragility of symbols meant to uphold royal authority

Arboreal locomotion · Poetry · Politics · Rhetorical question · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · Literature: history, themes, analysis