Patriotism and Charles Kean: Henry V in 1859

Author: Marshall, Gail

Source: Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, Volume 36, Number 1, June 2009 , pp. 61-72(12)

Publisher: Manchester University Press

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Abstract:

This is a study of Henry V, Charles Kean's final Shakespeare revival. The essay investigates the ways in which Kean's concern for the respectability of the theatre coincided with the burgeoning prominence of the new middle classes. Through his productions at the Princess's Theatre, Kean wished to make the theatre an accepted and acceptable part of bourgeois cultural and social lives. He was indeed the ideal manager for that new social configuration, sharing as he did their concerns with probity, with the importance of good domestic and financial management, and with the imperative to achieve a moral dimension to his work. In many ways, Kean is partly responsible for the creation of that class out of its individual components as they unite in the experience of being audiences at the Princess's. In his 1859 production of Henry V, Kean conjured a figure suited to the moment of 1859, and to a contemporary rhetoric of heroism.

Keywords: SHAKESPEARE; CHARLES KEAN; RESPECTABILITY; HENRY V; HEROISM; IMPERIALISM; WAR; 1859

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2009-06-01

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