| Recording history is of great importance both to those who record and those who have vested interests in the recorded image. Monarchs and leaders throughout time have exerted what control they could over the interpretations of historical image. William Shakespeare as can be seen in his history plays, Henry V, Henry VI, and Richard III, is no stranger to the importance of image in cementing a leader's power or undermining and perhaps ultimately destroying it. He took information from the Tudor histories and altered it to fit the political situation of the moment. Modern productions are put together with as much care, adapting the Shakespearean texts to lend relevance to political situations today. In this study, I examine the Tudor historians whose material was the backbone of the history plays, Shakespeare's texts, and modern stage and screen productions. The images of leadership change, but the necessity for an image remains. |
