Between Order and Chaos: English Authority and Scottish Resistance in David Greig’s Dunsinane

Bilgin S.

UTAD Theatre Research Conference, İstanbul, Türkiye, 10 - 12 Eylül 2026, cilt.9786250047972, ss.126, (Özet Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Cilt numarası: 9786250047972
  • Basıldığı Şehir: İstanbul
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.126
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Between Order and Chaos: English Authority and Scottish Resistance in David Greig’s Dunsinane

This study analyses how David Greig’s Dunsinane (2010) constructs and destabilises the boundaries between Scottish and English national identities. Set in the aftermath of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the play reimagines the political succession crisis following Macbeth’s death. After Macbeth is killed, the English general Siward intends to install Malcolm on the Scottish throne to bring order to Scotland; however, he is confronted by Macbeth’s wife Gruach, who asserts her claim to the throne on behalf of her son, Lulach. In this way, the play presents Dunsinane as a contact zone where national identities are questioned, and redefined. The study argues that English characters establish authority over Scotland through a rigid dichotomy that frames English identity as civilised, rational, and orderly, while Scottish identity is constructed as chaotic, superstitious, and quarrelsome. In this discourse, national identity operates as a mechanism of distinction that legitimises English domination and positions Scotland as the cultural and political “other.” However, the play also destabilises this binary by exposing the constructed and unstable nature of national identity. Although the English army possesses military power, it repeatedly fails to understand Scottish culture, as England interprets Scotland through its own assumptions rather than engaging with local knowledge and lived realities. Through Gruach’s resistance and the refusal of Scottish people to accept England’s imposed order, marginalised groups challenge the authority of the centre and complicate established power relations. The study therefore contends that Greig presents national identity not as fixed, but as fluid, and open to manipulation. By blurring the boundaries between England and Scotland, Dunsinane reveals how political power depends on the construction of cultural difference, while also demonstrating the capacity of the margin to resist, and reshape dominant narratives.

Keywords: centre-periphery dynamics, David Greig, Dunsinane, national identity, Scotland-England relations