A New Historicist Reading Of Shakespeare's Henriad

History Play was one of the predominant literary genres in the Elizabethan Age and Shakespeare was the most important contributor to this genre. He was superior to his contemporary playwrights both in the number and popularity of his history plays. Shakespearean history plays not only depicted historical events and figures vividly, but also reflected the ideologies prevailing in Shakespeare's age. Successfully drawing a large audience, these plays participated in the political life of contemporary society and brought great influence over British history.Shakespeare's Henriad—the second historical tetralogy comprised of Richard II, Henry IV (Part 1 and Part 2) and Henry V—reflects a full maturity Shakespeare attained in the creation of historical works. The tetralogy depicts the deposition of RichardⅡwhich marks the beginning of civil strife; the unstable rule of Henry IV as a usurper and the education Prince Hal acquires to transform him from an idle wastrel into a qualified king.The present thesis adopts the New Historicist concepts—"the historicity of texts" and "the textuality of histories"; "subversion" and "containment"—to investigate Shakespeare's Henriad. This thesis not only explores the interaction of Shakespeare's Henriad with the social and political status in his age through a retrospect of critical historical events and prevailing ideologies about kings and kingship, but also examines the alternation of "subversion" and "containment" presented in the second tetralogy, so as to provide a new way to understand the profound influence of history on Shakespeare as well as the significance of the second tetralogy in the social and political life of Shakespeare's age.