The Sources of Shakespeare's Allusions to Persia

Document Type : Original Research

Author
Mostafa Hosseini
faculty member Bu-Ali Sina University
Abstract
William Shakespeare is an allusive poet. His allusions include not only Western but also Eastern history, culture, and mythology. The present paper deals with Shakespeare’s allusions to Persia and its history and culture. His allusions deal with both pre-Islam and post-Islam Persia. In comparison to Shakespeare’s references to “others” (e. g. Turks, Jews, and Moors), his allusions to Persia both pre and post-Islam are general, succinct and superficial. The present paper tries to show how Shakespeare came by his contemporary Persia) the Safavid Persia on the one hand, and tries to contextualize Shakespeare’s knowledge of Persia, on the other hand. Concerning pre-Islam Persia, Shakespeare got his information from two main sources. One, from the books written by Greek historians which an English translation was available and the performed plays that dealt with pre-Islam Persia at his time. Other, he received his knowledge about post-Islam Persia (especially the Safavid Persia) through travel-books notably written by Richard Hakluyt, Anthony Jenkinson and the Shirley Brothers.

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