Shakespeare's History Plays Are Tudor Propaganda
Shakespeare's history plays are full of historical distortions, essentially political propaganda for the Tudor dynasty: vilifying Richard III, avoiding sensitive topics about Henry VIII, to legitimize their rule.
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Contrast is an old tradition in English literature
Lu Dapeng cites the British writer Ackroyd: something refined can be juxtaposed with something mundane, vulgar, even obscene. In Shakespeare's plays, the scene where a princess learns English mixes a girl's fear and longing for the enemy king with a barrage of sexual puns derived from French-English homophones, while also mocking the French. This 'contrast' is not just dirty jokes but a feature of traditional English literature, continuing into today's Yes Minister and Blackadder.
— Lu Dapeng16th-century theaters were not highbrow venues
We now think of Shakespeare as high art, but in Elizabethan times, attending a play was down-to-earth entertainment: nobles, middle-class merchants, and street ruffians crowded the same theater, with vendors hawking, dogs running, chickens flapping, and even fights breaking out. So Shakespeare's plays are full of dirty jokes to capture the groundlings. Lu emphasizes that the positioning of Shakespeare's plays then was completely different from today, which explains the 'lowbrow' elements in the dramatic structure.
— Lu DapengShakespeare's originality lay in reworking source material
Almost all of Shakespeare's plots came from existing chronicles, legends, or earlier texts, but the era did not prize 'original plots'; being able to cite widely was what earned respect. What truly made him great was his ability to process 'bad material'—the English chronicles of the time were extremely dull, and only he could make them vivid. The modern literary theory of intertextuality says the same thing: there is no absolute originality; all texts are recombinations of old texts.
— Lu DapengModern English was shaped by Shakespeare and the Bible
Lu argues that the two key texts that made today's English lively and readable are Shakespeare's plays and the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. Shakespeare fixed phrases like 'a foregone conclusion,' 'with bated breath,' and 'has seen better days' into common usage; the Bible used only about 8,000 common words, making it accessible to ordinary people. Together, they kept Elizabethan English not far from today's, lowering the barrier for modern readers.
— Lu DapengHistory plays are propaganda, not history
Shakespeare's history plays contain numerous factual errors; Lord Norwich even listed them one by one. But Lu says that approaching them with a fact-checking mindset misses the point: the purpose of history plays is political propaganda. The Tudor dynasty's legitimacy was questionable—Henry VII was a descendant of an illegitimate line who seized the throne—so the dynasty needed plays to portray Richard III of York as a 'spider' and 'hunchbacked toad,' using the contrast of 'the dark previous dynasty and the glorious present' to craft legitimacy.
— Lu DapengWhy Henry VIII avoided the wife-killing
Anne Boleyn was Elizabeth I's mother, and Henry VIII had her executed. Shakespeare certainly knew this, and so did the queen. So the play about Henry VIII is carefully calibrated politically: it flatters the queen and the Tudor dynasty while omitting all sensitive episodes, ending with Elizabeth's birth. Lu believes that Henry VIII is not a great play, but as a piece of political propaganda, it is very worth examining.
— Lu DapengThe WWII version of Henry V deleted the truth
In 1944, Laurence Olivier directed and starred in Henry V, with an opening dedication explicitly to the British Commandos and Airborne troops. London was under V1 and V2 bombardment, and the film was meant to boost morale. To that end, two parts of the play that were not 'positive energy' were cut: Henry V's order to slaughter hundreds of French prisoners, and the epilogue predicting that his son Henry VI would lose France and bleed England. Comparing the original reveals how the war context again turned Shakespeare into propaganda.
— Lu DapengKurosawa let Shakespeare shine on Asia
Shakespeare's power lies in continued transmission through intermediaries like Akira Kurosawa: he turned King Lear into the Sengoku-daimyo epic Ran, and Macbeth into Throne of Blood, which in turn influenced Chen Kaige's The Promise and later Hong Kong directors. Many people have never read Shakespeare but have seen The Lion King, which is actually Hamlet's revenge story. Lu's metaphor: Shakespeare is the luminous body, Kurosawa is the moon, and the audience are people under the moonlight.
— Lu DapengIn their own words · checked verbatim
It's that something refined can be juxtaposed with something mundane, vulgar, even obscene.
就是一个高雅的东西 跟一个平凡的反俗的 甚至是下流的东西 可以并置摆在一起
Lu Dapeng12:07
There is nothing new under the sun; people cannot imagine what they have never seen.
太阳底下没有新鲜事情 就人没有办法想象出自己从来没有见过的东西
Lu Dapeng20:14
In Henry VIII, Shakespeare handled it with particular finesse, very politically: on one hand flattering Queen Elizabeth and the Tudor dynasty, while avoiding many sensitive topics about Henry VIII.
莎士比亚在亨利八世这部剧里面就拿捏的特别的恰到好处 非常非常讲政治 就一面的吹捧了伊丽莎白女王和都督王朝 又回避了关于亨利八世的很多很多敏感的话题
Lu Dapeng42:23
This film is dedicated to the Commandos and Airborne troops of Britain, humbly attempting to recreate the spirit of their ancestors.
仅以此片献给英国的突击队和空降部队 本片谦卑的尝试重现他们祖先的精神
Lu Dapeng52:27
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances.
整个世界就是一个舞台 所有的人们 所有的男男女女 只不过是一些演员 他们有下场的时候 有上场的时候
Lu Dapeng59:37
This master, this giant, this genius, so profoundly English, and yet so effortlessly universal.
这位大师 这位巨人 这位天才 如此深刻的属于英国 又如此毫不费力的 具有普世性
Lu Dapeng1:08:41
Figures
| Number of common English words in the King James Bible | about 8,000 | 26:16 |
| Year of the old Globe Theatre fire | 1613 | 58:35 |
| Shakespeare's shareholding in the Globe Theatre | initially 12.5%, later reduced to about 7% | 1:00:38 |
| Year the new Globe Theatre opened | 1997 | 1:01:39 |
| Capacity of the new Globe Theatre | about 1,400 people | 1:02:40 |
Glossary
- intertextuality
- A literary theory concept: there is no absolute originality; all texts are recombinations and pastiches of existing texts.
How to listen
Listeners fascinated by British history, fans of British TV series and films, and those wanting to understand the power dynamics behind Shakespeare's plays, especially casual enthusiasts who have watched Game of Thrones but are unfamiliar with English history.