King Henry V (eBook)

For this updated edition of Shakespeare's most celebrated war play, Professor Gurr has added a new section to his introduction which considers recent critical and stage interpretations, especially concentrating on the 'secret' versus 'official' readings of the play. He analyses the play's double vision of Henry as both military hero and self-seeking individual. Professor Gurr shows how the patriotic declarations of the Chorus are contradicted by the play's action. The play's more controversial sequences are placed in the context of Elizabethan thought, in particular the studies of the laws and morality of war written in the years before Henry V. Also studied is the exceptional variety of language and dialect in the play. The appendices provide a comprehensive collection of source materials, while the stage history shows how subsequent centuries have received and adapted the play on the stage and in film. An updated reading list completes the edition.

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The New Cambridge Shakespeare appeals to students worldwide for its up-to-date scholarship and emphasis on performance. The series features line-by-line commentaries and textual notes on the plays and poems. Introductions are regularly refreshed with accounts of new critical, stage and screen interpretations. For this second edition of King Henry V, Shakespeare''s most celebrated war play, Andrew Gurr has added a new section to his introduction in which he considers recent criticism and important contemporary productions of the play. Concentrating in particular on ''secret'' versus ''official'' readings of the work, he analyses Shakespeare''s double vision of Henry as both military hero and self-seeking individual, and shows how the patriotic declarations of the Chorus are contradicted by the play''s dramatic action. Controversial sequences are placed in the context of Elizabethan thought while the exceptional variety of language and dialect in the text is also studied. An updated reading list completes the edition.