I don't think the Falstaff figure emerges in anything from the historical material. But there's certainly a sense that there is a period of miserable or wild oats for the prince. Catherine Luschon, much exercise, by the way, Shakespeare, my lines Margaret, don't want you. Do you want to express your spleen? Yes, I'd love to. We're very used to the idea that we must completely dismantle his monstrous portrayal of Richard III as the ultimate villain. There's a sense in which his equally monstrous portrayal of Margaret of Anjou has remained accepted until relatively recently as an accurate depiction of her.
In the first of two programmes marking In Our Time's 20th anniversary on 15th October, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Shakespeare's versions of history, starting with the English Plantagenets. His eight plays from Richard II to Richard III were written out of order, in the Elizabethan era, and have had a significant impact on the way we see those histories today. In the second programme, Melvyn discusses the Roman plays.
The image above is of Richard Burton (1925 - 1984) as Henry V in the Shakespeare play of the same name, from 1951
With
Emma Smith
Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, University of Oxford
Gordon McMullan
Professor of English at King’s College London and Director of the London Shakespeare Centre
And
Katherine Lewis
Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Huddersfield
Producer: Simon Tillotson