The Shakespeare Book

38

H

enry VI Part 2 is often

considered the strongest of

Shakespeare’s three plays

about Henry VI, who, historically,

was the king of England from the

age of nine months in 1422 until

1461 and again from 1470 until 1471.

The play focuses on the dark period

in English history leading up to a

Yorkist challenge to the Lancastrian

monarchy that spiralled into the

civil and dynastic war known as

the Wars of the Roses.

This first of Shakespeare’s great

plays about English history—written

before Henry VI Part 1—may have

first been performed in 1591. It was

printed as early as 1594 in a quarto

version under an extraordinarily

lengthy title, which was presumably

the publisher’s publicity blurb rather

than Shakespeare’s own title. Most

people refer to it as The Second Part

of Henry VI (as it is entitled in the

1623 Folio edition) or Henry VI Part 2.

Making history

Although the rawness of the verse

shows the young Shakespeare still

developing his craft, its attraction

lies in the way it brings a panoply

of shadowy historical figures and

Henry VI (depicted with his wife

Margaret of Anjou in this 15th-century

manuscript) gave away territories to

Margaret’s father. Shakespeare portrays

Henry as easily influenced by his wife.

events vividly to life and shapes

them into a gripping narrative.

Characters from history, from the

brutally ambitious Richard of York

to the strong-willed Margaret of

Anjou, attain such intensity each

time the play is performed that it

is difficult for historians to escape

Shakespeare’s re-creation of them.

Using the poetic style and stage

techniques of his contemporaries,

Shakespeare creates a heightened,

emotionally charged drama, and

he reshapes the material in his

historical sources to create a

pattern to the events, drawing out

themes of kingship and ambition.

Recasting Cade

One of the most vivid characters

in the play is Jack Cade, the lively

rabble-rouser who, egged on by

York, stirs up the common-folk of

Kent to rebellion and leads them on

a terrifying assault on London. But

the Cade in Henry VI Part 2 is not

HENRY VI PART 2

IN CONTEXT

THEMES

Ambition, weakness,

social order, kingship

SETTING

London, Kent, Blackheath,

St. Albans

SOURCES

1548 One source for the play

is Edward Hall’s The Union

of the Two Noble and Illustre

Families of Lancaster and York.

1587 As for many of his

History plays, Shakespeare

also drew on Raphael

Holinshed’s Chronicles of

England, Scotland, and Ireland.

LEGACY

1591 Evidence suggests that

Henry VI Part 2 was first

staged in 1591 or 1592.

1864 Performance to celebrate

Shakespeare’s tercentenary at

the Surrey Theatre in London.

1963 John Barton and Peter

Hall at the RSC combine the

three Henry VI plays and

Richard III into the two-part

The Wars of the Roses.

1987 An English Shakespeare

Company production directed

by Michael Bogdanov stresses

the play’s political issues. It

tours Japan, Italy, and Australia.

2001 A production combines

the Henry VI/Richard III

tetralogy into one at the

Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

2012 The National Theatre

of Albania performs the play

as part of the Globe to Globe

Festival, at the Globe, London.