Materiality of Memory in Shakespeare’s Second Tetralogy

This paper examines allusions to tombs made by Richard II and Henry V in Shakespeare’s second tetralogy, focusing on references to royal monuments in Westminster Abbey. Richard II’s solipsistic meditations on burial and commemoration reveal his narcissism and inability to envision the country continuing without his divinely appointed guidance. In contrast, Henry V’s nuanced invocations of imagined and real world monuments display a sophisticated understanding of the historiographic power of tombs. Throughout these plays, Shakespeare’s Henry V subtly invokes images of the commemorative art within Westminster Abbey in order to solidify his legacy as one of England’s great warrior kings.