Introduction
I am going to discuss how
Shakespeare uses speech to characterise his characters in the historical plays
and the way he presents facts, historical events, monarchs and subjects through
the theatrical elements to make the Henriad universal pieces of theatre. .
In order to create a
specific political atmosphere the didactic message is mixed between the king’s
license to rule due to his divine right and his ability to govern wisely and in
a responsible way. We can see in most of these plays the way Shakespeare
presents the Kings Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V and in addition, some
characters of the plays like Gaunt or Falstaff which help to develop the message
he wants to transmit the the audience.
These historical plays were
set in a time where political propaganda was becoming a subject of importance in
England due to the fact that the Queen Elizabeth I was very old and there was a
problem of succession and therefore Tudor propaganda is an important fact in
Shakespeare’s plays. In some way these plays are considered to be like a guide
in order to elect the new king. As
Amanda Mabilard
says “this philosophy seems to be a combination of Tudor and Machiavellian
theories on the nature of kingship and power”. In these plays the relationship
between morality and kingship is criticised and, consequently, there are a lot
of questions which need an answer: Which are the king’s duties? Which are the
essential values to rule? To what an extent are kings likely to abuse power? Do
the private decisions of the king affect politics? These topics had a great
importance during the time these plays were written and performed. England as a
patriotic entity is always the main subject, together with Wales, Scotland and
Ireland which are normally represented in a comical or in an exaggerated way.
The historical plays combine
tragic and comic elements and this seems to be an influence of the
morality plays in the medieval tradition. This, according to some
critics, is due to the fact that Shakespeare held a critical attitude towards
the moralities and it was a resort to them that gave a comic touch to his plays.
The history plays refer to
the two more important English civil wars which took place during the XIV and XV
century and which led to the famous
War of the Roses
which confronted the House of York (the white rose) and the House of Lancaster
(Red Rose). The facts, characters and scenarios are based on the English
Chronicles but the way they are dealt with in the play is Shakespeare’s original
idea.
I have analysed some aspects
of the history plays, more specifically, Richard II,
Henry IV and Henry V.
Plays I
have chosen for the analysis:
Sources:
http://www.williamshakespeare.netfirms.com/dramas_historicos.htm#TABLA
Visited: 06 December 2008