Essay on Rewriting History in Henry IV -- Henry IV Henry V Essays

Rewriting History in Henry IV The master of historiography is, perhaps, Shakespeare as evidenced by his History Plays. Whereas most writers merely borrow from floor to fuel their creative fires, Shakespeare goes so far as to rewrite history. The First Part of Henry the fourthly part follows history fairly closely, and Shakespeare draws this history primarily from Raphael Holinsheds Chronicle of England, Scotland, and Ireland and from Samuel Daniels verse epic The Civil Wars (Abrams 823). The play opens shortly after Henry Bolingbroke has usurped the throne from Richard II, becoming the fourth King Henry, and changing the royal lineage from the House of Plantagenet to the House of Lancaster. In the opening sequence, Henry IV is in the process of vowing peace in England and brilliant a crusade to liberate the Holy Land. No motive for this crusade surfaces in 1 Henry IV, other than the fact that it is some unfinished melodic line from Shakespeares preceding play Richard II ( Kelly 214). Henrys pledge of civil peace is ironic because during this first scene he receives word that his troops have been overtaken by Glendower in Wales, and Hotspur has met and defeated the Scots in the North (1.1.36-61). To the news, the King replies, It seems then that the tidings of this broil / Brake off our business for the Holy Land (1.1.47-8). Postponing the business in Jerusalem, Henry IV eventually leads England into civil war with Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury. These actions will ultimately ignite the War of the Roses between the Lancasters (Henry IVs family) and the Yorks (descendants of Richard II). The play then shifts its nidus to the younger Henry, nicknamed Hal. Shakespeare portrays the ... ... as king. Shakespeare the Historian is not so wonderful as Shakespeare the Playwright, yet through Shakespeares History Plays many modern readers draw their knowledge of the history prior to Shakespeare. Works Cited * Drabble, Margaret, ed. The Oxford Compa nion to English Literature. 5th Ed. New York Oxford UP, 1985. * Jacob, E. F. The Fifteenth Century 1399-1485. capital of the United Kingdom Oxford UP, 1961. * Kelly, Henry Ansgar. Divine Providence in the England of Shakespeares Histories. Cambridge Harvard UP, 1970. * McFarlane, K. B. Lancastrian Kings and Lollard Knights. London Oxford UP, 1972. * Rowse, A. L. Bosworth Field From Medieval to Tudor England. New York Doubleday, 1966. * Shakespeare, William. 1 Henry IV. Ed. M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1, 6th ed. New York Norton, 1993.