The third play of Shakespeare's 'First Tetralogy,' this «Part III» is widely regarded as the best of the three works on Henry VI. The Bard's skill in producing scenes of moving drama is readily apparent, for Queen Margaret journeys to France in search of military aid after King Henry brokers a deal with his enemy Richard, Duke of York, for physical protection. Many bloody and heart-rending battles take place in this play as the War of the Roses reaches its climax, with Henry...
The second play in Shakespeare's 'First Tetralogy,' this work continues the fictionalized account of King Henry VI's reign. It commences with the marriage of Henry VI with the French noblewoman Margaret of Anjou, whose influence in court is challenged by Duke Humphrey, the King's Protector. There is a large amount of aristocratic subversion in this play, in which the good Duke Humphrey is fatally ensnared. Richard, the Duke of York, emerges with a claim to the throne,...
The beginning of Shakespeare's 'First Tetralogy,' which includes two other plays about King Henry VI and one on Richard III, it is so named because it was written in 1588, among some of the Bard's earliest works. This first history play in the cycle commences just after the death of Henry V, when England is at war with France. Across the Channel, Sir John Talbot battles Joan of Arc, or 'La Pucelle,' while the dissention that leads to the War of the Roses begins in...