Rezension
“Michael Paulson has presented here a wonderful study of the use of an historical figure in literature to convey various ideas regarding monarchy and social order. He presents the reader with a concise historical background on Henry IV and discusses the different forms of presence a character may take: actual, ghostly, memory, in absentia. In each situation, the character is present to one degree or another. It is fascinating to see how the chronology of the author can color the portrayal of a real person in a fictional piece. Although Henry IV is a sixteenth-seventeenth-century king, seen through the eyes of nineteenth-century authors, we get not only a new perspective on the king, but we also get a glimpse into the workings of the nineteenth-century mind.”
—Lisa Blair, Durham Technical Community College
