Hobbes and the Rhetoric of Theatricalization: Sovereignty and Spectacle

• In Event: Rhetoric, Politics, and Hobbes

Abstract

The most striking thing about the Leviathan frontispiece is the fact that when one opens one's door in the morning, the Leviathan is the first thing one sees. It is designed to awe -- much in the way that the court appearances of monarchs were spectacles designed to awe. (Think of Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII and Metys' of Elizabeth). In this paper I explore that Hobbes thinks the relation of the subject to the sovereign is and argue that it is one of presence. I draw upon some work of Netzsche and Michael Fried to develop this point.

Author

• Tracy B. Strong, University of Southhampton