Why this topic, why these plays
The plays gathered under "Kings and rulers" share a recurring thematic preoccupation that, across 19 different scripts in our archive, has produced a remarkable variety of theatrical solutions. Reading them in proximity to one another is one of the more useful comparative exercises a student of dramatic writing can do, because the contrasts in tone, structure, and resolution show how much choice a playwright really has, even when the underlying subject is the same. The list below collects the works in our library that catalogue indexers identified with this subject; in some cases the connection is overt and in others oblique, but in every case the thematic affinity is real and worth pursuing.
All plays on this topic (19)
- Tecumseh : a Drama — by Charles Mair
- The Maids Tragedy — by Francis Beaumont
- Philaster; Or, Love Lies a Bleeding — by Francis Beaumont
- A King, and No King — by Francis Beaumont
- King Henry VI, Part 1 — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry VI, Part 2 — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry VI, Part 3 — by William Shakespeare
- King Richard III — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry V — by William Shakespeare
- Hamlet — by William Shakespeare
- King Lear — by William Shakespeare
- The Tragedy of Macbeth — by William Shakespeare
- Cymbeline — by William Shakespeare
- The Winter's Tale — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry VIII — by William Shakespeare
- Macbeth — by William Shakespeare
- Hamlet The First ('Bad') Quarto — by William Shakespeare
- Hamlet A Study with the Text of the Folio of 1623 — by William Shakespeare
- King Henry V Arranged for Representation at the Princess's Theatre — by William Shakespeare