History and Politics and Shakespeare

History plays play an important role in creating the collective memory of a nation by celebrating the nation's heroes and the important moments in its history. They are instrumental in inciting the nationalist spirit and it is easy to see why in the times as tumultuous as the Elizabethan era one fifth of total plays were histories.
Shakespeare drew on the historical records of the time. However he allowed himself some poetic liberty and rearranged or invented historical events. For example: in the play Henry VI is of marriageable age at the time of his succession to the throne whereas he…