本篇論文在文化物質理論的架構下，探討新納入莎士比亞經典之歷史劇，《愛德華三世》之宗教、性別、及主體的順承議題。宗教改革以及聖經英譯運動，使得女性主體得以發展自己的聲音，以對抗王權專制的暴政—縱然在君權神授的傳統中君主為俗世的神權代表。在莎士比亞歷史劇中，女性主體常有被省略、禁聲、邊緣化，甚至妖魔化的傾向。然而，《愛德華三世》中的女性，再現為一位擁有強烈自主聲音的主體，《一位真正的英國女士》。值得注意的是，劇中的女性主體挪用一向被視為父權社會所主導的人類歷史著作—《聖經》— 作為對抗想要以君權神授思想合法化父權體制及君主專政的武器。《愛德華三世》中，前現代時期漸漸展現的女性主體意識，與日益高漲的英國國族主義霸權文化不斷進行語文角力，在起誓與背誓的儀式化行動中，不斷爭奪詮釋與挪用的權力。大而言之，亨利八世所發動的一連串新教運動，有意無意之間，開啟了廣闊的爭議空間，使得君權專制的絕對掌控權逐漸為百家爭鳴的聲浪削弱，而1649 年查理一世的砍頭事件適為英國邁向民主化發展之一明證。《愛德華三世》文本中所浮現的強烈女性主體意識及聲音，以及以個人良知為行事最終準繩的文化現象，在在展現前現代時期的民主化及現代化里程。

In this paper, I investigate the religious, gender, and identity politics of obedience as manifested in the recently attributed Shakespearean play, Edward III, within a cultural materialist framework. The Protestant Reformation movement and the translation of the English Bible have empowered the individual, a female subject in this case, to develop a voice of her own against the tyrannical authority of the monarchy—ideologically instituted as the steward of God on earth, thus, the temporal embodiment of divine ruling power. The female subject, who is often omitted, silenced, marginalized, and even demonized in Shakespearean history plays, is represented in this play as a “true English lady” with an extraordinarily strong voice. What is more remarkable, the female subject in Edward III appropriates the Bible—traditionally viewed as the prototypical logo-centric and patriarchal “historical” record of human history—as her own weapon against the very patriarchal institution that seeks to legitimize itself on the same religious grounds. The contestation between an emerging Early-Modern female identity and an increasingly monolithic English national identity is revealed in the unremitting textual and verbal struggles over the interpretations and appropriations of oath-taking and oath-breaking rituals. More globally, I argue that the Henrician Reformation, willingly or not, opened up a series of complex and intricate debates that undermined the absolute power of the monarchical authority, ultimately culminating in the deposition of Charles I in 1649. The emergence of a distinct female voice and the belief in conscience as the ultimate judge of individual conduct, as dramatized in Edward III, serve as witnesses to the gradual democratization and modernization of Early Modern English culture.