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The "brute" part in 'Hamlet' and 'Julius Caesar' refigured--regally.(kings and illegitimacy in literature)(Critical Essay)

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From: Papers on Language & Literature
Date: 20020622
Author:Fleissner, Robert F.

Was Shakespeare indebted at all to the likes of Malory if he meant by Antony's reference to "the most unkindest cut of all" (Julius Caesar 3.2.183) (1) to have had Brutus go so far as to sever his dictator's genitals vindictively for having brought him into the world out of wedlock? The main point here is that a king, Arthur, at least according to the standard medieval tradition, was likewise killed by his upstart, namely by his own illegitimate son; moreover, at one point in the tales, a removal of sexual organs also happened to occur, though in this case the father himself, ...

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