Shakespearean Histories

Shakespeare wrote many histories. He wrote these with a specific intent on how to portray the characters to appeal to his audience. Through his writing he develops Richard as a menace while he develops Henry as a hero. This was to appeal to the crowd at the time, as well as to make an entertaining play.

Passage Comparasion:
Shakespeare's main use of character development is through dialogue. The lengthy passage in the beginning of Richard III lets the audience know right away that he is a villain before they even see him in action.

In this passage he starts by mentioning happy things going on in England, and how the country is in peace after a war. He then mentions how bitter he is about how he cannot enjoy the festivities and the attention of a woman because of his physical deformity. This could quickly lead to the audience sympathizing with Richard rather than despising him, but Shakespeare quickly changes their emotions by the language he uses. "And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain, And hate the idle pleasures of these days. Plots have I laid..." The character of Richard comes out, showing the audience that if he cannot have fun, then he will take the rest of the people down with his own suffering. This selfishness clearly portrays a villain, rather than a sympathetic hero. Richard is willing to ruin the peace and happiness of England for his own entertainment and glory.

The physical deformity of Richard also shows the audience that this is an evil character. Shakespearean heroes always tend to be remarkably handsome, and the unattractiveness of Richard is a physical manifestation of what is going on inside him. Even in the same first speech Richard ends it by telling the audience about the rumor he has spread which ultimately ends up in the death of his one brother. Richard does not mention one good thing about his character, and proves to the audience that he is a villain. He sacrifices his own family for his selfish needs.

On the contrary, the inspiring language Henry uses helps portray the essence of a true hero. In his famous speech in Act IV scene iii, he raises the morale of his troops by telling them basically that they are going to die, but that they should be so proud to do it for the glory and honor of their country. Henry's motivational force through out the whole play is honor and glory. This says much more about his character than Richards, whose motivational force was power and wealth."We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother..." Henry invites is soldiers in a part of comradery and brotherhood, where he would be honored to fight and die with these men. Richard on the other hand kills off both of his blood-brothers. King Henry is willing to fight along side these men and not leave them until the end. This is a great contrast to Richard who hires assassins to kill people who get in his way.


Genre Commentary:

Ultimately, the histories were written to appeal to the monarch at that time. The factual events were very stretched, as well as the character development. Richard III is more entertaining as this self-absorbed villain, whether that was the truth or not. And even though Henry started a war over a small insult from France, Shakespeare needed to make him an honored hero for England. The common theme through out the histories is taking factual events and dramatizing them for entertaining purposes. After all, Shakespeare was trying to make a living off of entertainment, not history books.

And because most of the histories are written about rulers and kings, there is usually a war in them. The audiences emotions are tied up in the battles fought. They want Richard to fail so badly, especially when all the ghosts come out and they can see how many people he betrayed. And as for Henry, they are right there cheering him on. The battles are used so the audience can see the villain or hero in action, and so there emotional needs are satisfied, whether it is being relieved that Richard never succeeded, or shouting for joy as Henry wins his battle.

Personal Reflection:

I really enjoyed the histories. Reading Richard III was very entertaining, and I am glad we read it in class first. That helped me understand what I should be looking for in Henry V. But while reading these, I understand that I do not know much about England's history, and I know I have not learned much about it from reading these. These were meant to be entertaining, and that is exactly what they were. But now I really want to read up on the factual events behind these exciting and glorified tales.