Where Edmund Takes on Canute

Edmund Ironside by William Shakespeare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really liked it. The handful of other readers on goodreads didn't like it. Huh.

I'm probably right. ;)

Though officially anonymous, some people say this is an early play by Shakespeare. [which people? citation needed] [JK--it was E. B. Everitt, Eric Sams, and Peter Ackroyd. They point to language, mostly.] And I wouldn't be surprised if they were right. It's got nicely regular iambic pentameter; unrhymed except for the odd couplet at the end of a scene or the last time we see a character; the comic relief servant speaks in regular prose; many nicely dramatic scenes with a very Iago-like villain... Sure, all those things are Elizabethan, but to my terribly untrained eye it seems like it could be an early work.

Besides, it's very fun. Good action, both offstage and on. Memorable characters. This is when the crown of England was passing back from Danes to native-born Englishmen (then back, then back again) a generation or so before the Normans arrived. It makes good use of the best sources of history at the time, even to using the language of the sources (Holingshead and Grafton).

I've read a few dull plays recently and tried to like them; this one I liked without effort. Should be fun to see on stage. So--recommended. Whether it's Shakespeare or Mr. Anonymous.

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