u/Quiet-Somewhere-3964

I was watching the 1970s Macbeth filmed production with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench earlier and started to really think about what the lower-class, presumably uneducated members of the audience knew about the plays.

First, just about the history plays: would the average peasant know who Richard II or Henry V was, and, if they did, would they know who won the Battle of Agincourt, for example?

Secondly, In Henry VI the future Richard III makes several references to Homer in his speech about what he'd do in order to get the crown. So would people outside the nobility have any knowledge of Homer and the references?

I was watching the 1970s Macbeth filmed production with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench earlier and started to really think about what the lower-class, presumably uneducated members of the audience knew about the plays.

First, just about the history plays: would the average peasant know who Richard II or Henry V was, and, if they did, would they know who won the Battle of Agincourt, for example?

Secondly, In Henry VI the future Richard III makes several references to Homer in his speech about what he'd do in order to get the crown. So would people outside the nobility have any knowledge of Homer and the references?