The history plays

Shakespeare: The Histories brings a completely new approach to Shakespeare's historical dramas. Many previously well-known and influential studies have been governed by Marxist methodologies. This book reviews the plays in the light of modern theory, considering History as re-readings of the past. Both the early modern consciousness of history, obsessed by ghosts and resurrections, and modern preoccupations with language as absence and deferral, provide alternative interpretative contexts for reading Shakespeare's history plays. Holderness concentrates on detailed readings of the plays in the light of these concerns, writing in an accessible way and with an intensified focus on history as writing.