One of the most ambiguous terms in English literary history and theory has turned out to be historical drama and all of its available alternatives-such as history (play), chronicle (play), chronicle history, etc.-used relatively widely during the past centuries. Under the Spell of Shakespeares Histories presents the exciting story of the theoretical approaches to the above term starting from the ancient times up until the end of the twentieth century with a special emphasis on the English-language sources. After providing a critical summary of the theories of such major critics as Samuel...