King Henry V Arranged for Representation at the Princess's Theatre

About this book

This volume presents William Shakespeare’s historical drama King Henry V as it was staged at the Princess’s Theatre in 1859, complete with the extensive explanatory apparatus added by Charles Kean, F.S.A. The front matter explains the three‑tiered system of notes, asterisked marginal comments, numbered footnotes collected at the end of each scene, and longer “Historical Notes” placed after each act, so readers can follow the textual and stage directions without losing the original scholarly context. The opening scene, delivered by the Chorus, immediately addresses the audience’s imagination, asking whether the modest stage can contain the vast battles of France, while the prefatory essay frames the play as both poetry and a patriotic recounting of England’s martial triumphs at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt.

The language retains Shakespeare’s Elizabethan diction, enriched by Kean’s 19th‑century theatrical conventions, detailed stage cues, and period music selections. Its blend of poetic drama, historical annotation, and Victorian production values will appeal to scholars of early modern theatre, students of Shakespearean performance history, and readers who enjoy a richly contextualized experience of a classic historical play.