Departing from the common assumption that Henry VI represents Shakespeare’s “apprentice work” in Providential history, David Riggs argues that the early trilogy embodies an extended treatment of ethical topics that originated in classical rhetoric and historiography, received a large emphasis in the Tudor grammar-school curriculum, and eventually determined the format of the heroical-historical drama that begins with Marlowe’s Tamburlaine. The author first establishes the rhetorical conventions and humanistic traditions that were instrumental in the formation of the Elizabethan history play. He provides a new account of the rise of this genre, arguing that the rhetorical framework, with its emphasis on “parentage” and “deeds” as determinants of social value, promoted a transition from the heroical romance to an essentially political drama about contemporary English history. Both Marlowe and Shakespeare, he maintains, used the history play to present the Elizabethan audience with fundamental questions about its social institutions.