Throughout our society, we have had various representations of history. History which is used as a
reflection of the past and an insight into the future, evolves constantly with the developing society.
However, with evolution of history there comes new forms of history. Starting from the writings of
Herodotus, there is now a new method of conveying history which is theatre. Shakespeare who is a
play-write has 11 plays under the title of historical plays. These plays offer a general insight to the
events that had occurred during the past an attempt to give his wide range of audiences a
historically accurate play. Despite having minor inaccuracies and fictional aspects, it gets
compensated with historical facts that had been researched prior to writing the plays. Shakespeare,
needed to entertain, critique and be accurate. He had based his historical plays with the past
centuries and wrote about the past leaders of England and its neighbours to critique the current
leaders.
A major portion of Shakespeare’s knowledge of the English history was obtained through
Holinshed’s historical works. Books such as The firste volume of the chronicles of England, Scotlande,
and Irelande were used to ensure that historical accuracy was present within the play. Although,
Shakespeare relied on the second volume which was released in 1587; this married well with the
date Shakespeare wrote Henry VI