ABSTRACT
Greg Walker, the most serious student of Respublica, attempts to supply a more focused historical contextualization, and to some extent he succeeds. This chapter explores how familial figures—characters defined by household status and gender—communicate Respublica’s political and doctrinal theses. Respublica has twelve roles, described thoroughly in the manuscript: the parts and names of the players. The fuzzy invocation of classical figures and Christian characters, in combination with the medieval theory of the queen’s two bodies, makes for vague symbolism, but the overall effect is plain: from incipit to explicit, Respublica exalts Queen Mary. Respublica, like its relatives Magnyfycence and Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits, bridges the divide between morality and history play. Respublica also engages with commonwealth literature, which makes an examination of early modern political thought helpful in recapturing its ways and means. Under the staunchly conservative Mary, continuation of the doctrines espoused by Edward, England’s young Josiah, was equally unrealistic: Respublica must remain a Catholic interlude.
