ABSTRACT
Recent scholarship on Shakespeare's Henry plays has critiqued England by association, giving attention to the surrounding nations: Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and France. The national identities, use of language, and political allegiances of characters such as Fluellen, Jamy, Macmorris, and Glyndr have been the focus of this criticism, which acts to discourage readings of these characters as simple comic stereotypes. Feminist critics have situated the creation of England's national identity as a gendered enterprise, and the female characters who do not speak English, namely Princess Catherine and Mortimer's nameless wife, have received critical attention. At the end of the scene the Chorus began the singing of Non nobis and Te Deum whilst crying, an ironic counterpoint to Henry's claim that 'ne'er from France arrived more-happy men'. The casting of a black actor as Henry for the second time seemed more significant than being a 'colourblind' coincidence.
