RE: St. Bartholomew's Day is Every Day.
(Edited)
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Have you read or seen "The Massacre at Paris" (1593) by Christopher Marlowe? There is an interesting documentary on Youtube about a production that was performed in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral (Marlowe was born in Canterbury).
As for the "natural tendency to trust our leaders," Lord Hastings in Shakespeare's "Richard III" (also performed around 1593) is a good example. He knows well enough that Richard is dangerous and ambitious, but thinks that he (Hastings) is safe because "dear To princely Richard." We find comfort in the delusion that another person's malice won't be directed towards us because we are "different."
!BBH
!ALIVE
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No, I'm not familiar with "The Massacre at Paris", but will look into it (the documentary in particular - thank you for that!). I'd be curious of the representation since Marlowe was writing under Elizabeth I, who'd had a tense relationship (as all English monarchs seem to have had with the French xD). So thanks, I'll look into that.
As for Lord Hastings, Shakespeare was on my mind writing this. Most of his historical plays point to how treacherous and untrustworthy monarchs (and by association politicians) are truly, despite the public's often idealized notion. Yet we never seem to learn. Well said, we all hope our princes hold us dear, except they don't ever seem to.
Marlowe, who was accused of atheism, took the protestant accounts of the massacre and amplified them with some extra juicy bits of his own invention. One critic I'm reading at the moment, Wilbur Sanders, accuses Marlowe of "psychic decay" and a failure (especially when compared to Shakespeare) "to free his drama from the mere 'ideas' which gave rise to it. The ideas are ministering to urges which are only partially understood."