| dc.description.abstract | This study compared the representation of statecraft in Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, and Ruganda's play, The Floods. The study focused on the dramatists' perception of what is involved in the political processes. Generally, the study was library-based, and employed a qualitative approach in its examination, analysis and interpretation of the political issues in the plays. The theme of statecraft1 in Julius Caesar and The Floods was examined under two major sub-themes: politics and violence. Politics was further analyzed under the categories of political personnel and political experiences, namely: friendship and betrayal, futility of independence, and manipulation of the common people. The theme of violence was analyzed under the categories: repression, wars and coups, sexual violence, and the consequences of political violence.
It was observed in the background to the study that the two playwrights greatly draw on the social and political milieu of their respective societies. Shakespeare wrote his play, Julius Caesar, in the l 5th- l 6th century, to portray the political climate in England which was characterised by struggles.
Similarly, Ruganda was informed by the social and political forces of the Amin regime of 1971- 1979, to write his play, The Floods.
The study employed both T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) idea of the 'timelessness of art2, expressed in his essay 'Tradition and the Individual Talent' and Reader-Response theory3 in its comparative analysis of a new writer, Ruganda, to an old writer, Shakespeare.
From the Reader-Response point of view, the research argued that Ruganda 'misread4, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In other words, he saw the Ugandan political atmosphere with the lenses of the Roman world depicted in Julius Caesar, itself a camouflaged reflection of the
Elizabethan England.
The study identified common grounds in the representation of the political atmosphere, modes employed in attaining and sustaining power, and the dramaturgy of presenting political violence in the plays, Julius Caesar and The Floods.
The study established that Julius Caesar and The Floods have commonalities in the representation of political figures, practices and experiences. The study also logically argued that the two texts share content and methods of representing the theme of political violence. It was therefore concluded that Ruganda 'misread' Shakespeare's Julius Caesar when he wrote his play, The Floods. But the study also discovered unique areas in the dramaturgy employed in presenting the themes of the plays. | en_US |
