If I should tell my history....

Mythical Histories
In honour of Shakespeare's April 23rd birthday, this post is about his sensational History plays. They feel more relevant than ever because of the popularity of Game of Thrones and George RR Martin’s acknowledgement of the influence of Shakespeare's Wars of the Roses sequence.

Power of Eleven
Shakespeare wrote eleven plays dealing with English History (King John, much of Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, Henry V, Henry VI Part 1, Henry VI Part 2, Henry VI Part 3, Richard III and most of Henry VIII.) Shakespeare also wrote four historical tragedies set in Ancient Rome (Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.)

Pseudo-history
Some of the other tragedies contain historical aspects: Titus Andronicus, for example, with the wars between the Romans and Goths or Othello with the Venetian/Turkish tensions. King Lear, Macbeth and Cymbeline (a comedy?!) might fall under the banner of Shakespearean history because they are based on legendary, pseudo-historical figures; and they were included in one of Shakespeare’s key source books, Holinshed’s Chronicles, a history of Britain, although even contemporary commentators thought Holinshed was inventing much of his “history.”

There weren't no mechanical clocks in Ancient Rome, not never
But how far did Shakespeare’s exploration of history colour subsequent interpretation? Richard III and Cleopatra in popular culture certainly derive from Shakespearian characterisation. There are wild inaccuracies and anachronisms in the history plays. These howlers occur either for dramatic effect or as a result of Shakespeare’s patronage and the need to stay in favour with the aristocratic sponsors of the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre. But no theatre fan has ever claimed the History plays are documentaries. Modern TV and film dramas play equally fast and loose with police work, legal proceedings and medical treatments.

Box office hits
With the printing press still a relatively new invention, and newspapers still an invention of the unimagined future, world events in the late sixteenth century might well vanish from memory – unless they had been turned into legends, handed down mainly through oral tradition, or presented in drama. For the majority of the illiterate English populace, plays provided a vivid introduction to the history of their grandparents, piecing together the oral anecdotes that had been passed down. The original audiences flocked to the early performances of these plays; Henslowe’s diary includes fantastic box office receipts for Shakespeare’s histories.  

Elizabethan and Jacobean propaganda
But the plays also served another purpose. Even an invigorated England could not quell the growing fear and uncertainty surrounding the last years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The question on people’s minds was what would happen to England when their queen died? A series of plots to assassinate Elizabeth, combined with the knowledge that there was no obvious heir to the throne, sent nervous tremors throughout the country. Would the power struggle reignite a civil strife between a new set of contenders like Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III or would the country unite as it did behind Henry V and Henry VII? 

Universal truth interwoven into the fictional history
Using history as a foundation, Shakespeare built characters and events that explored the rich complexity of human nature. His ability to craft stories of human emotion, motivation, bravery and vulnerability is a legacy that is astonishing in its richness and variety. Thanks, fellah! And happy birthday for April 23rd.