A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works - Volume II - The Histories

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn

A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works, Volume II: The Histories, presents newly written scholarly surveys on key periods, movements, and major authors within English literary culture and history, with emphasis on canonical and post-canonical texts. The volume outlines debates and methods for reading Shakespeare’s English histories, including historical writing, censorship, nation formation, kingship theory, and performance interpretations. It also supplies chapter coverage of specific plays such as Henry VI, Richard III, King John, Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages494

Reading Time12 h 41 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The Writing of History in Shakespeare’s England

Shakespeare and Contemporary Dramatists of History

Censorship and the Problems with History in Shakespeare’s England

Nation Formation and the English History Plays

The Irish Text and Subtext of Shakespeare’s English Histories

Theories of Kingship in Shakespeare’s England

“To beguile the time, look like the time”: Contemporary Film Versions of Shakespeare’s Histories

The Elizabethan History Play: A True Genre?

Damned Commotion: Riot and Rebellion in Shakespeare’s Histories

Manliness Before Individualism: Masculinity, Effeminacy, and Homoerotics in Shakespeare’s History Plays

French Marriages and the Protestant Nation in Shakespeare’s History Plays

The First Tetralogy in Performance

The Second Tetralogy: Performance as Interpretation

1 Henry VI

2 Henry VI

3 Henry VI

“The power of hope?” An Early Modern Reader of Richard III

King John

The King’s Melting Body: Richard II

1 Henry IV

Henry IV, Part 2: A Critical History

Henry V

A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works Volume II Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture This series offers comprehensive, newly written surveys of key periods and movements and certain major authors, in English literary culture and history. Extensive volumes provide new perspectives and positions on contexts and on canonical and post-canonical texts, orientating the beginning student in new ﬁelds of study and providing the experienced undergraduate and new graduate with current and new directions, as pioneered and developed by leading scholars in the ﬁeld. 1 A Companion to Romanticism Edited by Duncan Wu 2 Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture Edited by Herbert F. Tucker 3 A Companion to Shakespeare Edited by David Scott Kastan 4 A Companion to the Gothic Edited by David Punter 5 A Feminist Companion to Shakespeare Edited by Dympna Callaghan 6 A Companion to Chaucer Edited by Peter Brown 7 A Companion to English Literature from Milton to Blake Edited by David Womersley 8 A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture Edited by Michael Hattaway 9 A Companion to Milton Edited by Thomas N. Corns 10 A Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry Edited by Neil Roberts 11 A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature Edited by Phillip Pulsiano and Elaine Treharne 12 A Companion to Restoration Drama Edited by Susan J. Owen 13 A Companion to Early Modern Women’s Writing Edited by Anita Pacheco 14 A Companion to English Renaissance Drama Edited by Arthur Kinney 15 A Companion to Victorian Poetry Edited by Richard Cronin, Alison Chapman and Anthony Harrison 16 A Companion to the Victorian Novel Edited by Patrick Brantlinger and William B. Thesing A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works 17 A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works, Volume I: Edited by Richard Dutton and The Tragedies Jean E. Howard 18 A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works, Volume II: Edited by Richard Dutton and The Histories Jean E. Howard 19 A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works, Volume III: Edited by Richard Dutton and The Comedies Jean E. Howard 20 A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works, Volume IV: Edited by Richard Dutton and The Poems, Problem Comedies, Late Plays Jean E. Howard A C O M P A N I O N T O SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS V O L U M E I I THE HISTORIES EDITED BY RICHARD DUTTON AND JEAN E . HOWARD Editorial material and organization copyright © 2003 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5018, USA 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia Kurfürstendamm 57, 10707 Berlin, Germany The right of Richard Dutton and Jean E. Howard to be identiﬁed as the Authors of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2003 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for. ISBN 0-631-22633-8 (hardback) ISBN 1-405-10730-8 (four-volume set) A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 11 on 13 pt Garamond 3 by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com](http://www.blackwellpublishing.com) Contents Notes on Contributors vii Introduction 1 1 The Writing of History in Shakespeare’s England 4 Ivo Kamps 2 Shakespeare and Contemporary Dramatists of History 26 Richard Helgerson 3 Censorship and the Problems with History in Shakespeare’s England 48 Cynd

FAQs

What topics does Volume II of A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works cover?

It surveys how history is written and interpreted in Shakespeare’s England, including censorship, nation formation, theories of kingship, and the performance and film versions of the history plays. It then turns to focused studies of major plays within the histories.

Which specific Shakespeare history plays are addressed in the chapter list?

Chapters cover 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI, Richard III (via an early modern reader), King John, Richard II, 1 Henry IV, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V.

How does the volume treat performance and adaptation?

It includes chapters on contemporary film versions of the histories and on performance as interpretation, including studies of the first and second tetralogies in performance.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn