Willam Shakspeare’s

History Plays
 Introduction
The plays:
 King John

 Henry V

 Richard III

 Henry VIII

 Edward III

 Henry IV(parts 1,2)

 Henry VI(parts 1,2,3)

 Actors
Specialised actors

Fencing

Strong voices

Style

Richard Burbage
 King John
Written in 1597

King John of England (1199-1216)

King John receives an

ambassador from France, who
demands, that he should
renounce his throne in favor of
his nephew, Arthur, whom the
French King, Philip, believes to
be the rightful heir to the
throne.
The reign of King Edward III

Anonymously printed in 1596 (Partialy Willam and/or Thomas

Kyd)

Edward gets the idea that he is the real

heir to the previous king of France and
decides to claim his inherintance.

The Scots attack a castle and he

goes to defend his territory, where he
finds a beautiful countess.
 Henry VI
Henry V dies, and everything goes to hell.

The new French king tries to free his kingdom

but he fails.

Joan of Arc gets some visions and fights for France

The king is too young so Gloucester, who later starts a fight

against the church, runs England.
 Henry III
After a long civil war between the
royal families, England enjoys a
period of peace under King Edward
IV.

In comes Richard, the king’s junger

brother
In his search of the power he will kill
his brother.
After his brother’s death, he becomes the
Lord protector of England untill the elder
of Edwards sons grows up.
 Henry the VIII
A colaboration of William and John Fletcher.
“All is True” an alternative name-before the first
folio.

Shows the changing winds of politics

Henry’s devorce with Catherine of Aragon.

Henry’s meeting, courting and

marrying Ann Boleyn
Problem plays
 Definition

 a play which examines a specific social or political problem with

the aim of igniting public debate

 exploring specific moral dilemmas and social problems through

their central characters

“First folio”
 All’s well that ends well

 the source for the story is derived from the Boccaccio's

Decameron

 Helena , a poor orphan, goes a long way to win Bertram’s heart

 Troilus and Cressida

 The sources for the play include classical mythology and Homer's
Iliad

 The first plot- a tragical love story between Troilus (Trojan

prince) and Cressida
 The second plot- the story of Trojan war
 Measure for measure

 the original source is "The Story of Epitia"

 raises important moral issues in its detailed descriptions of
Christianity
 plot- coruption takes over in Vienna as the Duke sets out in
undercover mission of exposing his disloyal servent Angelo