Henry VI

By William Shakespeare

"Henry VI Part 2" continues the saga of the Wars of the Roses, depicting political unrest and power struggles in medieval England. The narrative unfolds with King Henry's weak rule, leading to a fractious nobility vying for control. Key figures like Richard Plantagenet and Queen Margaret fuel the turmoil, with alliances shifting and betrayals unfolding. The play delves into themes of political ambition, betrayal, and the dire consequences of internal strife, setting the stage for the dramatic events that shape England's history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Interactive Media
• Release date: Sep 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910833711

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

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William Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare

Henry VI

Part 2

Published by Sovereign

This edition first published in 2015

Copyright © 2015 Sovereign

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 9781910833711

Contents

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

ACT I

ACT II

ACT III

ACT IV

ACT V

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

KING HENRY THE SIXTH

HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, his uncle

CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, great-uncle to the King

RICHARD PLANTAGENET, DUKE OF YORK

EDWARD and RICHARD, his sons

DUKE OF SOMERSET

DUKE OF SUFFOLK

DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM

LORD CLIFFORD

YOUNG CLIFFORD, his son

EARL OF SALISBURY

EARL OF WARWICK

LORD SCALES

LORD SAY

SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD

WILLIAM STAFFORD, his brother

SIR JOHN STANLEY

VAUX

MATTHEW GOFFE

A LIEUTENANT, a SHIPMASTER, a MASTER’S MATE, and WALTER

WHITMORE

TWO GENTLEMEN, prisoners with Suffolk

JOHN HUME and JOHN SOUTHWELL, two priests

ROGER BOLINGBROKE, a conjurer

A SPIRIT raised by him

THOMAS HORNER, an armourer

PETER, his man

CLERK OF CHATHAM

MAYOR OF SAINT ALBANS

SAUNDER SIMPCOX, an impostor

ALEXANDER IDEN, a Kentish gentleman

JACK CADE, a rebel

GEORGE BEVIS, JOHN HOLLAND, DICK THE BUTCHER, SMITH THE WEAVER,

MICHAEL, &c., followers of Cade

TWO MURDERERS

MARGARET, Queen to King Henry

ELEANOR, Duchess of Gloucester

MARGERY JOURDAIN, a witch

WIFE to SIMPCOX

Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Herald, a Beadle, a Sheriff, Officers, Citizens, Prentices,

Falconers,

Guards, Soldiers, Messengers

SCENE: England

ACT I

SCENE I. LONDON. THE PALACE.

Flourish of trumpets: then hautboys. Enter KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and CARDINAL, on the one side; QUEEN MARGARET, SUFFOLK, YORK, SOMERSET, and BUCKINGHAM, on the other

SUFFOLK

As by your high imperial majesty

I had in charge at my depart for France,

As procurator to your excellence,

To marry Princess Margaret for your grace,

So, in the famous ancient city, Tours,

In presence of the Kings of France and Sicil,

The Dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretagne and Alencon,

Seven earls, twelve barons and twenty reverend bishops,

I have perform’d my task and was espoused:

And humbly now upon my bended knee,

In sight of England and her lordly peers,

Deliver up my title in the queen

To your most gracious hands, that are the substance

Of that great shadow I did represent;

The happiest gift that ever marquess gave,

The fairest queen that ever king received.

KING HENRY VI

Suffolk, arise. Welcome, Queen Margaret:

I can express no kinder sign of love

Than this kind kiss. O Lord, that lends me life,

Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!

For thou hast given me in this beauteous face

A world of earthly blessings to my soul,

If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.

QUEEN MARGARET

Great King of England and my gracious lord,

The mutual conference that my mind hath had,

By day, by night, waking and in my dreams,

In courtly company or at my beads,

With you, mine alder-liefest sovereign,

Makes me the bolder to salute my king

With ruder terms, such as my wit affords

And over-joy of heart doth minister.

KING HENRY VI

Her sight did ravish; but her grace in speech,

Her words y-clad with wisdom’s majesty,

Makes me from wondering fall to weeping joys;

Such is the fulness of my heart’s content.

Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.

ALL

[Kneeling] Long live Queen Margaret, England’s

happiness!

QUEEN MARGARET

We thank you all.

Flourish

SUFFOLK

My lord protector, so it please your grace,

Here are the articles of contracted peace

Between our sovereign and the French king Charles,

For eighteen months concluded by consent.

GLOUCESTER

[Reads] ‘Imprimis, it is agreed between the French

king Charles, and William de la Pole, Marquess of

Suffolk, ambassador for Henry King of England, that

the said Henry shall espouse the Lady Margaret,

daughter unto Reignier King of Naples, Sicilia and

Jerusalem, and crown her Queen of England ere the

thirtieth of May next ensuing. Item, that the duchy

of Anjou and the county of Maine shall be released

and delivered to the king her father’--

Lets the paper fall

KING HENRY VI

Uncle, how now!

GLOUCESTER

Pardon me, gracious lord;

Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart

And dimm’d mine eyes, that I can read no further.

KING HENRY VI

Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on.

CARDINAL

[Reads] ‘Item, It is further agreed between them,

that the duchies of Anjou and Maine shall be

released and delivered over to the king her father,

and she sent over of the King of England’s own

proper cost and charges, without having any dowry.’

KING HENRY VI

They please us well. Lord marquess, kneel down:

We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk,

And gird thee with the sword. Cousin of York,

We here discharge your grace from being regent

I’ the parts of France, till term of eighteen months

Be full expired. Thanks, uncle Winchester,

Gloucester, York, Buckingham, Somerset,

Salisbury, and Warwick;

We thank you all for the great favour done,

In entertainment to my princely queen.

Come, let us in, and with all speed provide

To see her coronation be perform’d.

Exeunt KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, and SUFFOLK

GLOUCESTER

Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,

To you Duke Humphrey must unload his grief,

Your grief, the common grief of all the land.

What! did my brother Henry spend his youth,

His valour, coin and people, in the wars?

Did he so often lodge in open field,

In winter’s cold and summer’s parching heat,

To conquer France, his true inheritance?

And did my brother Bedford toil his wits,

To keep by policy what Henry got?

Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham,

Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick,

Received deep scars in France and Normandy?

Or hath mine uncle Beaufort and myself,

With all the learned council of the realm,

Studied so long, sat in the council-house

Early and late, debating to and fro

How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe,

And had his highness in his infancy

Crowned in Paris in despite of foes?

And shall these labours and these honours die?

Shall Henry’s conquest, Bedford’s vigilance,

Your deeds of war and all our counsel die?

O peers of England, shameful is this league!

Fatal this marriage, cancelling your fame,

Blotting your names from books of memory,

Razing the characters of your renown,

Defacing monuments of conquer’d France,

Undoing all, as all had never been!

CARDINAL

Nephew, what means this passionate discourse,

This peroration with such circumstance?

For France, ‘tis ours; and we will keep it still.

GLOUCESTER

Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can;

But now it is impossible we should:

Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast,

Hath given the duchy of Anjou and Maine

Unto the poor King Reignier, whose large style

Agrees not with the leanness of his purse.

SALISBURY

Now, by the death of Him that died for all,

These counties were the keys of Normandy.

But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son?

WARWICK

For grief that they are past recovery:

For, were there hope to conquer them again,

My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no tears.

Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both;

Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer:

And are the cities, that I got with wounds,

Delivered up again with peaceful words?

Mort Dieu!

YORK

For Suffolk’s duke, may he be suffocate,

That dims the honour of this warlike isle!

France should have torn and rent my very heart,

Before I would have yielded to this league.

I never read but England’s kings have had

Large sums of gold and dowries with their wives:

And our King Henry gives away his own,

To match with her that brings no vantages.

GLOUCESTER

A proper jest, and never heard before,

That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth

For costs and charges in transporting her!

She should have stayed in France and starved

in France, Before--

CARDINAL

My Lord of Gloucester, now ye grow

Reviews for Henry VI

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Shakespeare's histories are best read back to back in sequence, which gives a broader context and more of a historical sense. It can be a bit confusing to just take in one at random, more or less like dropping in on the middle of a story.That is particularly true here, in the second part (of three) about the reign of Henry VI. There is a lot going on in this play, and some of the acts seem to be there mainly to move us along in the historical narrative as efficiently as possible. There are some interesting characters who Shakespeare takes some extra time to develop a bit more, but most of them are just various plotters in various factions who get killed off by each other in short order.The most interesting part of this play is Act IV, which is all about Jack Cade's rebellion. Shakespeare portrays him as nothing more than a rabble-rousing, populist demagogue, and brutally satirizes such movements as pandering to the lowest common denominator. Cade promises his followers, who are mostly petty criminals, a sort of communist utopia, with an unending supply of free booze. Then, as his first official act, he executes a clerk for being literate enough to be able to sign his own name, rather than simply making a mark like a plain, honest man---and likewise promises to "kill all the lawyers." And things go downhill from there.This isn't one of Shakespeare's best histories, but it has its merits and is definitely not bad either.

[yooperprof · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Yes, there are way too many Dukes in this play, and they are not sufficiently differentiated. Reading this, you get the feeling it's like one of those old "Masterpiece Theatre" miniseries, and you really wish that Alistair Cooke were around to give you some tidy and well-spoken background info. Not to mention the fact that the central character Henry VI probably should never have been king in the first place. Given Queen Elizabeth's political sensitivity in the 1590s, Shakespeare had to be careful not to impugn the entire concept of inherited monarchy. That said, "Henry VI Part II" contains a number of very interesting things, and I was tempted to give it four stars. For one thing, the Queen - Margaret of Anjou - is a great character, one of the best Shakespearean villainesses. It's a well-written part, with enough depth that on a certain level you have to sympathize with her plight, particularly her infidelity. I mean, it's not _her_ fault that she was married off to such a schlub as King Henry VI. Then there's the whole Jack Cade rebellion, which is portrayed with a lot of gusto, even if Cade is presented in a one-sided manner as an ignorant demogogue. In some ways, the episode is eerily reminiscent of some 20th century dictators. Oh, the fickle mob! And this is play that contains on the most famous of all Shakespearean tags, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Contrary to what is sometimes assumed, the Bard himself was NOT sympathetic to that idea: clearly, lawyers and clerks were among the most important of his fan base in the early 1590s when he wrote this play at the start of his career. Of course, Shakespeare's chronicle plays bear the same relationship to the "real history" of 15th century England as Oliver Stone's films do the history of our own time, but that doesn't mean that they can't be appreciated on their own merits.

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The play deals with the end of the English wars in France, and the beginning of the conflict between the Party of Henry VI, and his wife Margaret and her lover the duke of Suffolk, and the party of the duke of York, Richard Plantagenet. There's also a revolt of the ordinary people, led by Jack Cade, to muddy the waters. A lot of killing ensues.I have recorded this as read 7 times.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fairly good as it sets in motion the plot and factions that come to a climax in the third part. The War of the Roses roars into full swing. The weak Henry and the virago Margaret of Anjou start to show their stripes. The traitorous Suffolk gets his comeuppance. Rchard, Duke of York, rules the day but his victory is short-lived.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The star rating is based on my enjoyment/engrossment in the play, and not the quality of the writing. I couldn't stop reading this, even though it was painful. Each character I started to like either became repulsive in their actions, or died. It did inspire me to look up the actual histories of many of the characters, and though the timeline is a bit condensed, and the characters are extreme for drama's sake, it isn't that far off from what I read.

[baswood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Saintly King no Match for Headless CoqsIn the fifteenth century the age of chivalry had long since passed and Shakespeare with his first history play written in the late sixteenth century shows how personal the barbarity had become. Warrior Queens and ambitious wives add to a fatal mix for the Noble families of England.Lady Eleanor:Were I a man, a duke and next of blood,I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocksAnd smooth my way upon their headless necks.Testosterone drives the events forward, which rapidly threaten the king himself with the Duke of York happy to stir up a popular revolt to gain the crown. It was quite simply all or nothing if you didn't get to wear the crown you lost your head. This had always been the case, but the wars of the roses between the houses of York and Lancaster threatened to plunge the country into chaos and Shakespeare shows how close it was for the the Lord of Misrule to triumph. If ever the Elizabethan state needed a history lesson as the queen aged with no heir to the throne then Shakespeare provided it. Reading and watching a performance of the play today shows just how well the play works. It makes for great drama and an interesting interpretation of the history of England.The majority of the play is centred around the the scheming of the powerful Dukes of England as they break into various factions to secure the crown from a king who has proven to be weak in the art of politics and leadership. However interspersed are scenes and one whole act of the blackest of black comedy involving non noble characters, which are also relevant to the plot. In act one it is Eleanor; wife of the Lord Protector to the king and the most powerful man in the kingdom who hires a sinister group of charlatans to prophesy the fate of the king and his advisers. The scene ends with their arrest and puts in train the events that will lead to the Protectors downfall. In act 2 there is the miracle cure claimed by Simpcox which is foiled in the public domaine by the Lord Protector, then there is the trial by combat of Horner the armourer and Peter his assistant. Peter has accused Horner of uttering treasonable words and the king has ordered a trial by combat. These trials usually took place between men of noble birth and Peter and Horner are provided with long poles and sandbags as weapons (as befits their station). However Peter kills Horner and this turning upside down of the way things should be is a portent of Jack Cades rebellion in act 4. This starts with the execution of Suffolk at the hands of pirates; dark in the extreme before moving onto a tremendous piece of theatre as Jack Cade acts out a real Lord of Misrule, hanging and ordering the death of innocent people on a whim, stirring up a mob and making a mockery of law and justice. Act 5 starts with the ignominious killing of Cade before the play ends in an orgy of death and destruction as York makes his play for the crown aided by Warwick and Salisbury. The Arden Shakespeare edition contains most of what you would want for a reading of the play. As is usual with this series it pays some attention to the productions of the play on stage since the 1590's. How different productions can emphasise the particular themes that run through the play. For example the carnivalesque aspects which could be toned down and played for a more gentle comedy instead of a more Rabelaisian saga of violence. The relationship between King Henry and his queen Margaret could either be played as a respectful queen towards her saintly husband, or as a strong willed woman contemptuous of a weak and indecisive monarch who is losing his grip on his crown. Ronald Knowles introduction covers many of the themes and he is particularly strong on providentialism: the belief that God controls events on earth and works in mysterious ways and the great chain of being; everybody has and knows their place in society and should stick to it. These ideas are challenged by the machiavellianism of the nobles and the violent challenges from those lower down the order. He is also very good on the burlesque distortion of society occasioned by Jack Cade's rebellion. He also covers issues relating to text and authorship including the quarto publication of The Contention (this is included in a facsimile reproduction as an appendix). There is a section on sources and of course as you would expect there are copious notes which explain where Shakespeare found his history and where he adapted it to fit into a drama that played well on stage.This is an early play by Shakespeare, perhaps the first where he was the main author, but his skill and artistry is evident. The animal imagery in evidence throughout may appear a little overplayed in places and repetitive, but it does link the actions within the play and hammers home one of the main ideas that the actions of both the nobles in their lust for power and the lower orders in their lust to destroy is hardly better than the primitive natural world. There are interesting parallels between the actions of the nobles and the ordinary people and the death scenes are well handled. The violence both on and off stage is extreme with a central motif of decapitation and defilement. "Yes, Poll!" says the pirate lieutenant; "Pole!" corrects Suffolk (he is William de la Pole) whose head does not end up on a pole as do other characters in this play, his head ends up in the lap of his lover Queen Margaret (unfortunately not attached to his body). Characterisation is pushed up to another level by Shakespeare; the strident assertive females, the essentially good and holy King, The world weary Duke of Gloucester who can hardly believe what is happening to him and who has a tremendous scene with his wife the lady Eleanor who is just finishing a two day ordeal of public penance; the cunning Duke of York and the bravado of the kingmaker Warwick.The BBC 1983 television production directed by Jane Howell is a must see for anybody that likes this play. It sticks closely to the text that has come down to us and proves how well the play works in the theatre. Peter Bensen as King Henry is portrayed as a weak king in the traditional sense of being out of touch and fearful of what is going on around him. He needs the support of his Protector the good and sensitive Duke of Gloucester. His new Queen: Margaret played by Julia Foster is a feisty woman intent on asserting her authority in love perhaps with Suffolk, but is able to let him go when her position is threatened. The Jack Cade scenes are excellent as is the fighting at the conclusion, many of the themes highlighted by the Arden edition can be followed in this production.Shakespeare's Henry VI part 2 shows a world that is gripped by greed where violence always lurks just below the surface and rises up with the least provocation. It is a world where pageantry and order can no longer paper over the cracks, it is a world sinking into barbarism where the strongest survive and religion is only for the foolish. A martial society where the ability to bear arms is of the upmost importance. It is all here in Shakespeare's play and the words on the page can come alive on the stage. Brilliant 5 stars.

[therebelprince · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An absolutely wonderful edition of this play, acknowledging it both a single entity and part of a much larger sequence. The informative introduction discusses critical and theatrical approaches to the work over the centuries, and the notes are second-to-none.

My only issue with the Arden series is in the advertising. Their website and promotional materials suggest these are the best Shakespeare editions for students, including highschool and undergraduate. I'm just not sure I agree. For instance the astoundingly deep introduction opens with a lengthy look at performance history which includes extensive discussions of how the other plays fit, which can often casually discuss political and narrative elements in them without really explaining it. The second section, on the play's critical history, again uses a lot of in-depth terms or academic asides without detailing these for younger or inexperienced students. This isn't the fault of the editor, since he is writing for an academic and knowledgeable audience; it's the fact that - while I acknowledge capitalism is above all - perhaps Arden could subtly shift their marketing toward the academic crowd, or produce school texts with similar textual notes but a slighter introduction.

[dypaloh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The action in Henry VI, Part II is mostly treachery amongst, and depopulation of, the dramatis personae. Those few not removed from the living are responsible for the newly missing. Quite a jolly old England Shakespeare’s England of old.The play resembles a pro wrestling battle royal except instead of being tossed over the ropes the combatants are tossed into their graves, and not always with their heads. The heads, less willing to cede the limelight, at times continue as dramatis personae without the personae themselves.Amazingly, there is much talk of honor from this group among whom honor is most loved as an ideal to be breached. The survivor with a royal stake whose potential for dishonor is not yet heartily embraced is Henry VI himself, the man who would not be king:Was ever king that joy’d an earthly throne,And could command no more content than I?No sooner was I crept out of my cradleBut I was made a king at nine months old:Was never subject long’d to be a kingAs I do long and wish to be a subject.One hardly can be optimistic he will hold the scepter much longer. All in all, despite Shakespeare’s habit of messing with biographical and historical facts, Part II is an absorbing enterprise in political misbehavior and violence in the service of ambition.

[devourerofbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Henry is a bit slow and easily led by those around him, and facing multiple challenges to his throne. I’m not going to go into too much detail critiquing Shakespeare, because I think most people are familiar enough to be able to discern whether or not they would be comfortable. I’ve never read any of his other history plays, so I’m not sure how this compares, but I was definitely aided in my attempt to understand what was going on by the fact that I had some previous knowledge of the events of Henry VI’s reign, even though Shakespeare didn't write the most accurate histories, being a playwright and not an historian.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Shakespeare’s histories have always felt less accessible to me than his other work. But I realized the other day that it’s probably because I’m not that familiar with the people involved. What is the musical “Hamilton” if not our version of Shakespeare's histories? It’s a theatrical show based on our own country’s history. Shakespeare's histories are not as easy for us to understand because we they are covering a time period that we don’t always learn about. But during Shakespeare's time everyone knew who those dukes and kings were, just as we know names like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.Anyway, all of that to say that these three plays worked much better for me than some of the other histories of his I've tackled and I think it’s because I finally made that connection. It was also incredibly helpful to me to watch the Hollow Crown series before reading the plays. It covers all three of these plays although it's called Henry VI Part one and two, it's really a combination of parts 1, 2 and 3.They are so well done and watching those first helped me picture a face with a name while reading the place, which helped me keep all the characters straight.These plays are part of the eight plays that make up the War of the Roses. Henry VI Part 1 includes the original scene where the characters pick a white or red rose to declare their allegiance. From there it’s a constant stream of battle and betrayal as they all fight for the thrown. Poor King Henry VI is thrust into his role as monarch when he’s only a baby. The death of his father meant a life time watching others attempt to steal his throne. Almost everyone in the plays comes to a bloody end by the final curtain. A few thoughts: Margaret was such a bad ass. She was conniving, but she was strong where her husband, King Henry VI, was weak. I have to admire her and she certainly has some of the best lines. We meet the infamous Richard in these plays. I'd read and seen Richard III before, so reading these gave me a better understanding of his character's background. He’s a delicious villain and one that I loved getting to know. “Why, I can smile and murder whiles I smile,And cry 'content' to that which grieves my heart,And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,And frame my face for all occasions”BOTTOM LINE: I ended up loving them. I was surprised by how hooked I got on the War of the Roses drama, but it’s like a soap opera. It’s amazing to see how power seems to corrupt all the touch it. Even those who are not driven with a desire for power are often the easiest to steal power from, because they aren’t as vicious as others. I would definitely read part 1, 2, and 3 back-to-back because they work better as one continuous story. I also highly recommend watching the Hollow Crown series first, but just dive into the plays and enjoy them! “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.”“For where thou art, there is the world itself,With every several pleasure in the world,And where thou art not, desolation.”“Unbidden guests are often welcomest when they are gone.”

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Listened to LibriVox full cast audiobook & read in Kindle omnibus "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare"Not quite as compelling to me as Part 1 but still much less difficult than I expect of Shakespeare. And now I know the context of the famous line "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."!