Select Plays, Vol. 5: The Life of King Henry the Fifth (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Select Plays, Vol. 5: The Life of King Henry the Fifth<br/><br/>For the historical facts Shakespeare consulted no other authority than the second edition of H01' 's Ch which was completed in 1587. The extracts which are here given, together with the quotations from the same work in the notes at the end of the play, will make this abundantly clear. It would be beside the purpose of this Preface to discuss the accuracy of Holinshed's narrative. Shakespeare took the facts as he found them and used them with a view to dramatic effect. That he had any political object in writing the play I find it hard to believe. But as this has been maintained by others whose opinion is entitled to respect, their views will be given subsequently. We will first deal with that about which there 15 no dispute, the narrative of Holinshed.<br/><br/>About the Publisher<br/><br/>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br/><br/>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.