Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide - Nick Groom, Piero 2013

Shakespeare’s English History

He was writing with increasing success and was fascinated by English history. Shakespeare was very interested in developing a national myth, and persistently returned to Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotlande and Irelande (1577) throughout his career.

I WROTE MORE ABOUT ENGLISH HISTORY AND THE FORMATION OF BRITAIN THEN ANY OF MY CONTEMPORARIES IN THE THEATRE.

He was also interested in British ethnicities (Welsh, Scots, Irish), racial difference (Shylock, Othello, Caliban), and the lower classes - whether metropolitan (at Gad’s Hill in Henry IV) or rustic (The Winter’s Tale).