Henry VI Part 2, Act I Scene i: The marriage of King Henry and Queen Margaret
Shakespeare · Drama

King Henry VI, Part 2

William Shakespearec. 1591
Influence13th pct
Popularity22nd pct

Read this if you…

  • want to read the earliest shakespeare plays even though they are among his worst
  • are interested in English History

Skip this if you…

  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated
  • haven't read the classic histories yet

Why It Matters

Shakespeare keeps the chronicle of England's civil wars going, this time around the weak King Henry VI losing control while powerful nobles scheme around him. It has some of his most vivid early battle scenes and the first appearance of the future Richard III. You can watch Shakespeare learning how to handle a big political canvas.

Connections

Where to go next

Built Onwhat came beforeKing Henry VI, Part…MetamorphosesThe Aeneid

  • Metamorphoses by Ovid. King Henry VI, Part 2 built on it. - York frames his ambition through Ovid, invoking "the fatal brand Althaea burnt" — the Meleager myth lifted straight from *Metamorphoses* Book 8 - The allusion only fully lands once you know the story: a life bound to a burning log, a kinswoman holding the match - Read the source and York's scheming reads as something older and darker than mere politics
  • The Aeneid by Virgil. King Henry VI, Part 2 built on it. - The classical bedrock under the bloodshed — *King Henry VI, Part 2* borrows Virgil's images of catastrophe - Margaret's speech in 3.2 names Ascanius and "burning Troy," and the play recalls Aeneas carrying his father Anchises from the wreckage — the *Aeneid*'s most famous tableaux - Knowing the sack of Troy first lets you hear why Shakespeare frames English civil war in Trojan terms
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Gallery

Depicted in Art

Suffolk presents Margaret of Anjou to the young Henry VI at the court of England; lords and ladies arranged in a ceremonial group, the new queen kneeling before the king.

James Stephanoff

Warwick draws Henry VI to the corpse of the murdered Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, lifting the cloth to reveal the strangled body while courtiers recoil.

Edwin Austin Abbey, 1891

Eleanor Cobham walks barefoot through the London streets in a white sheet carrying a lighted taper, soldiers holding back a jeering crowd while her husband Humphrey watches in black mourning.

Edwin Austin Abbey, 1900

Cade seated as on a throne atop London Stone, sword in hand, surrounded by his ragged followers as he proclaims his ordinances over the conquered city.

John Gilbert, 1890

Eleanor Cobham walks barefoot down a London street in a white robe with a lighted candle, monks and townsfolk lining her humiliating route to St Paul's.

James William Edmund Doyle, 1864

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$6.99$6.51

Folger Shakespeare Library

2008

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise Google, without breaking the scene to do it.

Buy on Bookshop
#2

SparkNotes (No Fear Shakespeare)

2003

#3

Arden Shakespeare

1999

$17.95Buy

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Deep Dive

What It's About

Spoiler warning

This summary gives away plot details.

Notable Quotes

“The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.”

— Dick the Butcher, Henry VI, Part 2

“Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.”

— William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2

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