Reaching Lifelong Goals

My “fun” class this Winter term is ENG 202 “Middle Shakespeare”.   It is not officially a history class, but my instructor, Peter Jensen is one of the most interesting I have had.   His lectures are peppered with historical tidbits that get my History Geek juices flowing.   I have researched more about Elizabethan England over the past few months than my specialized topic of WWI Aviation.   Each term, Peter assigns 4 research papers based on the plays we are focusing on.   This term we are looking at Shakespeare’s middle career works, Henry IV part 1, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet.   A special study is the Sonnets.  (there is a whole blog post coming about my instructor’s theories about renaissance code imbedded in the Shakespeare Sonnets…fun stuff!).   For my first paper this term, I began looking at how the Bard would stage battle scenes in his history plays.   I stumbled across some very interesting information about what sources (historical “chronicles”) Shakespeare used in writing his history plays.   It is very difficult to write a Shakespeare paper for this teacher, you can’t tell him anything he doe not already know!!    HOWEVER!! I got him on this one.   I found a Journal Article in the Shakespeare Quarterly about a historical chronicle that Shakepeare probably used for this play.   I found a reference that my teacher had not yet heard about!!!   Major victory for the History Geek!   I guess he owes me TWO beers now (Last term’s Shakespeare In Love Historical Inaccuracies Paper found one that he had missed).   I wanted to share my A+ research paper about Shakespeare’s Histories and Henry IV. Part I.    The paper is titled:  SHREWSBURY: The Battle on the Grass Vs. The Battle on the Boards.

William Shakespeare’s interpretation of history is closer to real events than one might expect in a stage production.   Shakespeare’s histories are small vignettes of famous characters in the rich chronicles of England’s monarchies.    He relates the actual history to his audience with both accuracy and dramatic license.  The constraints of the “boards” can be challenging when trying to depict an epic battle scene such as Shrewsbury.

The actual battle was a major event  in the Wars of the Roses during the early 15^th century.   During  the Battle of Shrewsbury in July 1403, King Henry IV led an army of about 20,000 to a river plain near the strategic town of Shrewsbury.   Sir Henry “Hotspur”  Percy, leader of the rebellion forces was outnumbered, leading a force of possibly 15,000.   The archers he had gathered in Cheshire were superior to those of the King.   This was the first great battle where longbow faced longbow, and many of the casualties, believed to be about 3,000 on each side, came from the arrow-storms in the early part of the battle.  Henry IV faced more rebellions through his reign, so Shrewsbury was far from decisive. But it did show the future Henry V the power of the English longbow, an arm he deployed to devastating effect in France at Agincourt  in 1415(Britain).

Of course, the logistics of staging an epic battle scene are challenging to a playwright.   Shakespeare takes the real history of the battle and presents  it to his audience within the scope of the characters’ experiences on the battle field.   This gives the overall feeling of a huge dynamic conflagration and yet still furthers the plot of the play.   Shakespeare brings the two sides of the battle together on stage as Prince Hal and Hotspur confront each other in Act 5 scene 4.  While not historically correct, this hand to hand combat scene personalizes the entire Battle of Shrewsbury and its importance to England’s monarchy.  Hotspur himself was killed, not by Hal’s sword, but by an arrow through the mouth when he opened the visor of his helmet to get some fresh air.

Shakespeare gives us  accurate insights into history with Falstaff’s account of recruiting soldiers through the use of the “King’s Press” (Act 4, Scene 2).   The Elizabethan audiences would have been able to relate to this speech directly  or even personally.   Falstaff gives a historically accurate account of how armies were formed during the medieval period.   The King of  England’s professional, free standing army was still 200 years in the future.   The use of press gangs was in use  for Royal Navy recruits well into the 18^th century, even though the life of a British Sailor was far superior to the poverty that they came from.     As a historian, Shakespeare got quite a few details of the period correct.    Where did Shakespeare get his information about English history?

As I learned through my research of Richard III, Shakespeare relied on Sir Thomas Moore’s Chronicles for a background of the history of that period.   I am convinced that for the history of Henry IV, there are two main chronicles that Shakespeare most likely had for reference.   There is substantial evidence that the historian Rafael Holinshed’s The Chronicles of  England, Scotland  and Ireland published in 1587 (Holinshed) could have been of great influence.   Being the consummate history geek that I am, I spent a couple of hours of research time reading the actual 1587 volume available online from the Furness Collection.   Although difficult to read in the Elizabethan English, I was able to find real details of Holinshed’s account of Henry IV and his negotiations surrounding the battle of Shrewsbury.   Based on this Chronicle, I am convinced that not only did Shakespeare get much of the history correct; he probably got it from this chronicle.

There is  also evidence that Shakespeare used John Hardyng’s Chronicle for information to develop Hotspur’s character.   In a journal article for Shakespeare Quarterly, Gilian West proposes: “It is hard to believe that  Shakespeare did not read this autobiographical declaration linking John Hardyng to the household of Sir Henry Percy, for, in writing I Henry IV, he seems to have studied with keen interest Hardyng’s brief account of Percy’s rebellion”(West).   The author presents a compelling argument listing some of Shakespeare’s lines for Hotspur that directly relate to Hardyng’s Chronicle.  She goes on to state: “More important, the play’s interpretation of the rebellion seems strongly influenced by the favorably biased narrative of Hotspur’s loyal retainer.” (West)   I agree with the interpretation that this Chronicle would be a secondary source that Shakespeare probably used to bring Sir Henry Percy to life on stage.

I have found through my historical study of both Richard III and I Henry IV that Shakespeare expertly weaves actual historical facts into beautiful stories that entertained the Elizabethan audiences on his stage.   Being able to portray an epic battle scene such as Shrewsbury with character- driven vignettes is truly one of Shakespeare’s greatest strengths as a dramatist.   Shakespeare’s Histories are turning out to be more than just great plays; they are new portals for my ongoing journey as a History Major.

Information Britain.com. “The 21st of July 1403 Ad, Battle of Shrewsbury, Famous Dates in History”. 2007. 23 Jan 2010. web.

Holinshed, Rafael. Holinshed’s Chronicles (1587). The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland. Ed. Schoenberg Center for Electronic text and Image. London, 1587.

West, Gilian. “Hardyng’s “Chronicle” And Shakespeare’s Hotspur.” Shakespeare Quarterly Vol. 41, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990) (1990): 348-51.