Textual genealogies and Shakespeare's history plays / Gary Taylor, John V. Nance

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Gary, 1953- author.

Nance, John V., author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in Shakespeare and text

Cambridge elements. Elements in Shakespeare and text, 2754-4257

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism, Textual.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Henry V.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. King Henry VI--Part 2.

Genealogy in literature.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Henry V (Shakespeare, William).

King Henry VI (Shakespeare, William).

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"This Element reconsiders the historical, theoretical, racial, ableist, and editorial problem of genealogy by analyzing to-be-spoken genealogies in two plays in the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio: the 'Salic Law' speech in Henry V and the 'seven sons' scene in Henry VI, Part Two. Both passages also exist in a significantly variant version in The Chronicle history of Henry the fift (1600) and The First Part of the Contention (1594). The differences between the two versions of the biological/bloodline genealogy have been central to the long-dominant theory of 'bad quartos'. That theory assumes that early modern chroniclers and playwrights shared the values of modern archival historians: they assume that Shakespeare prioritized accuracy over acting. The authors offer an alternative reading of genealogies written to be performed onstage as 'documentary effects', adapted for changing audiences in a new multimedia entertainment industry"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Introduction : biological and textual genealogies

The law Salic

In terram salicam

Contentious origins

Starting points : Hall’s Union and York’s genealogies

Holinshed’s Chronicles and York’s genealogies

If my claim be good, why have I not justice?

Editorial investments and documentary effects in performance

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed July 20, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Taylor, Gary, 1953- Textual genealogies and Shakespeare's history plays

ISBN:

9781009615655

1009615653

9781009615662

1009615661

OCLC:

1548373471

Publisher Number:

CIPO000308081

Access Restriction:

Some versions Open access versions available from some providers open access