Shakespeare: the histories

This study reviews Shakespeare's plays in the light of modern theory and modern views informed 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. The author concentrates on detailed readings of the plays in the light of these concerns, writing with an intensified focus on history as writing.