This richly annotated edition takes a fresh look at the first part of Shakespeare's second
tetralogy of history plays showing how it relates to the other plays in the sequence. Forker
places the play in its political context discussing its relation to competing theories of
monarchy looking at how it faced censorship because of possible comparisons between Richard II
and Elizabeth I and how Bolingbroke's rebellion could be compared to the Essex rising of the
time. This edition also reconsiders Shakespeare's use of sources asking why he chose to
emphasise one approach over another. Forker also looks at the play's rich afterlife and the
many interpretations that actors and directors have taken. Finally the edition looks closely
at the aesthetic relationship between language character structure and political import.
