Despite much scholarship on Shakespeare's tragic/trapped and comedic/stoic women, few studies illuminate the almost non-existent role of women in the history plays. The challenge is to deemphasize the riveting male characters of the histories--Falstaff, Hal, and Richard II--and focus instead upon the intelligent, resourceful, and often silent women who populate these plays. With an alternate reading, we valorize these women and discover much about societally-imposed expectations in the Elizabethan age as literary archeologists uncovering a salient past.

Margaret of Anjou (Henry VI, Richard III) and Lady Percy-Kate (Henry IV) discover that they can never really control their lives.

The women of the history plays reflect the uncertain status of Elizabethan women, yet Shakespeare questions their predetermined roles and identities.

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