What are Shakespeares History Plays?
William Shakespeare, the famous English playwright, wrote plays in many different genres. One area of particular use by Shakespeare was the period of English history leading up to his own day, specifically the Plantagenet and Tudor Dynasties. The history plays cover much of the time period between 1199-1547, and include King John, Richard II, Henry IV, Part IandII, Henry V, Henry VI, Part I, II andIII,Richard III, and Henry VIII.
William Shakespeare, the famous English playwright, wrote plays in many different genres. One area of particular use by Shakespeare was the period of English history leading up to his own day, specifically the Plantagenet and Tudor Dynasties. The history plays cover much of the time period between 1199-1547, and include King John, Richard II, Henry IV, Part IandII, Henry V, Henry VI, Part I, II andIII,Richard III, and Henry VIII. King John deals with the forced abdication and death of the title character. The brother of Richard the Lionhearted, King John is an incredibly unpopular king and is systematically betrayed by most of the characters, eventually losing the throne. It is historically unknown whether John died of starvation in prison or was murdered, but in this version he is poisoned by a monk. This first of the history plays is probably the least performed in modern times, although it was a favorite play of Victorian era England.
