ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapter we saw some events which were born as theatre, others which achieved theatricality of different kinds, possibly to a more intense degree in the retelling, and one which probably had the appearance of theatre thrust upon it. This chapter focuses on a single story, and discovers two important instances of the theatrical deeply embedded in the narrative texture of the late medieval chronicle where they are found. In neither case does the chronicler seek to recreate the theatrical effect; indeed, his narrative and rhetorical patterning is more prominent, and so this may appear a contentious record to include in my argument. Yet the theatrical character of one of these public scenes can be easily inferred despite the chronicler’s presentation, and the other was established proleptically by a participant as a show for future spectators to contemplate. Together they constitute a powerful, even emblematic, representation of the problems of national and personal identity during the Scottish Wars of Independence.
