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An illustration from a 15th-century
French manuscript shows Joan of Arc
leading the siege of Paris in 1429. It
suited the play’s anti-French politics to
portray Joan as a demon-invoking witch.analysis of language patterns
suggest that, while Shakespeare
probably wrote Henry VI Part 2 and
most of Part 3, he was the author of
only some of Part 1—the Temple
garden scene, and the scene in
Act 4 between Talbot and his son.
Early commentators, such
as the English playwright Ben
Jonson, criticized Henry VI Part 1
for its crowd-pleasing battle
scenes. Jonson insisted that, in a
proper literary play, such battles
would have been created in the
imagination with skillful use of
words, not crude stage techniques.
However, over the last half century,
critics have rediscovered in the
play some of the excitement and
political sharpness that would have
engaged audiences in 1592.
Family crisis
At the heart of the play lies
the importance of family as the
glue that binds society together.
After all, claims to be the rightful
king—claims that foment the
terrible strife to come between
the Yorkists and Lancastrians—
hinge on proper family relationships.
But it goes further than that.
Familial bonds, such as the deep
bond between Talbot and his son,
are fundamental— and when these
are lost, society is set adrift.
Legitimacy is crucial. Gloucester
emphasizes that Winchester is the
“bastard of my grandfather,” while
Talbot inveighs against the “bastard
Orléans” who killed his trueborn
son. The play omits Talbot’s real-life
illegitimate son, Henry, who also
died in the same battle. Political
crisis emerges from a crisis in the
family. Some critics argue that this
is why the women in Henry VI
are so negatively portrayed—
Joan la Pucelle, Margaret, and
the Countess of Auvergne are all
presented as dangerous women
who cause chaos by their effect on
men and on proper relationships.
In the first four acts, Joan is mostly
portrayed as a holy visionary, but in
Act 5, she morphs into the witch,
conjuring up demons. She engages
with York to beg for her life with
hysterical ferocity and wild curses
(understandable, perhaps, when
she is about to be burned alive).
Some directors have noticed
that the very moment one femme
fatale, Joan, leaves the center of the
action, another, Margaret of Anjou,makes her entrance. When the
Henry VI plays are performed
together, the same actress
sometimes plays both Joan and
Margaret to underscore the point
that they are part of the same
danger, although Margaret, Henry’s
future queen, is very different. While
Joan dresses as a man to win her
battles, Margaret remains womanly
on the outside and her power comes
from her sexual allure. Suffolk, the
earl who enticed Henry with
Margaret’s charms, closes the play
with the promise that: “Margaret
shall now be queen and rule the
King; / But I will rule both her,
the King, and realm” (5.7.107–108).
But Suffolk is deluded. He likens
himself to Paris, who elopes with
the beautiful Helen to Troy. But it
is a telling choice. Like Helen,
Margaret will only bring strife,
and Suffolk is banished and
gruesomely beheaded. ■THE FREELANCE WRITER
How say you, madam?
Are you now persuaded
That Talbot is but a shadow
of himself?
Talbot
Act 2, Scene 3