Pater Familias

Theories, observations, and articles, by Philip Schaefer · All posts · Categories

WHO WROTE THE HENRY VI PLAYS?

June 29, 2010 at 10:37 AM · Literature, Shakespeare

WHO WROTE THE HENRY VI PLAYS? When Mary Jane and I saw Rose Rage, the Chicago Shakespeare Company’s wonderful performance of the three Henry VI plays, I had the feeling throughout that what I was watching was written by Shakespeare. I felt that way even though I knew that scholars questioned how much of the Henry VI plays Shakespeare wrote. I have the impression that earlier critics questioned Shakespeare’s authorship of the Henry VI plays because they found the poetry disappointing. Watching the Henry VI plays, I was persuaded by the vividness of each scene that I was watching Shakespeare. The critics who use computers are measuring the use of words, including “but’, “and”, and “the”, which cannot be experienced by somebody watching or reading the plays.