“A Tailor Made Thee”: A Critical Discourse Analysis of King Lear and Cymbeline

Abstract

This article examines Shakespeare’s King Lear and Cymbeline in relation to the legal discourse of Calvin’s Case (1608). Combining corpus-informed analysis with Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis, the study investigates how lexical patterns related to making, fabrication, and outward construction shape representations of identity on the early modern stage. Particular attention is given to the recurrent association between tailor and make/made, which introduces the semantic field of artificial construction into questions of allegiance and subjecthood. By comparing these patterns with those identified in the legal report, the article shows how Shakespearean drama recontextualises the juridical naturalisation of allegiance and interrogates the stability of the natural-born subject.