Espinosa, Ruben. "Immigration and Henry V." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/immigration-and-henry-v. [Date accessed].

Immigration and Henry V

Opening rich discussions with students surrounding linguistic and cultural identity through Henry V.

Download the transcript
Ruben Espinosa
Arizona State University

Henry V can be an incredibly compelling play to bring students into conversations about immigration and nationalism. The play’s concern with crafting an English national identity, especially in comparison to that of the Welsh or French, offers students a way into a discussion about language, belonging, and national identity. Given the urgency of anti-immigrant sentiments and legislation in the US, the idea of who is deemed a legitimate insider is a significant entry point for American students to discussions about national citizenship and race. Notions of legitimacy in the US are often tethered to linguistic identity, so the play’s attention to language is critical for these conversations.

Further learning

Essay

Henry V and belonging

Shakespeare's language and status in the Western canon can feel inhospitable to many students, especially students of color. Teaching Henry V with a focus on linguistic identity, legitimacy, and belonging can open conversations that allow students to carve out a Shakespeare for themselves.

Ruben Espinosa
Syllabus

Critical theories and methods

This class investigates and gauges the value of critical theories and methods focused on race, racism, and racial justice. The aim of this course is to engage meaningfully with scholars, cultural productions, and criticism that draw on critical race studies within their artistic and scholarly work.

Ruben Espinosa
Syllabus

Revising the Shakespeare survey

Ruben Espinosa's annotated syllabus offers entry points to broaching conversations about race and racism within a course that isn’t necessarily devoted to Shakespeare and critical race studies.

Ruben Espinosa

Recommended

RaceB4Race Highlight

PCRS and appropriation studies

Vanessa I. Corredera explores ways of productively understanding racial representations in premodern critical race studies and in adaptations.

Vanessa I. Corredera
Activity

Journaling through questions of race

The journal is a place where students can engage in dialogue with themselves. This kind of reflection helps students track how their understandings of race develop over time.

Kyle Grady
RaceB4Race Highlight

Finding Black women in Shakespeare

Joyce Green MacDonald traces ways early modern texts and genres process the classical past and how that construction of the past is made known in the present.

Joyce Green MacDonald