Of the three parts of King Henry VI, Dr Johnson thought ‘the second the best’. Certainly it is a powerful play, though one that modern audiences have had little chance to see. When played at all, it has usually been cut and adapted, as in John Barton’s two-part The Wars of the Roses (1963), tailored from the three parts of King Henry VI, or in 1986 by the English Shakespeare Company and in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, both of whom also condensed the three plays into two. In 1977, however, Terry Hands directed all three plays in sequence at Stratford-upon-Avon, and in 2000–1 the RSC staged them as part of its ambitious series ‘This England, the Histories’, comprising all the histories from Richard II to Richard III in chronological order.
The 2000 Arden text is based on the 1623 First Folio.
LIST OF ROLES
LANCASTRIANS
KING Henry the Sixth
QUEEN Margaret
Humphrey, Duke of GLOUCESTER
uncle of the King
ELEANOR, Duchess of Gloucester
CARDINAL Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
great-uncle of the King
Marquess of SUFFOLK
Duke of SOMERSET
Duke of BUCKINGHAM
OLD CLIFFORD
YOUNG CLIFFORD
his son
VAUX
YORKISTS
Richard, Duke of YORK
his sons
Earl of SALISBURY
Earl of WARWICK
his sons
PETITION AND COMBAT 1.3, 2.3
Thomas HORNER
armourer
PETER Thump
his apprentice
PETITIONERS, PRENTICES, NEIGHBOURS
CONJURATION 1.4
John HUME
John SOUTHWELL
Margery JOURDAIN
a witch
Roger BOLINBROKE
a conjuror
SPIRIT
THE FALSE MIRACLE 2.1
Simon SIMPCOX
Simpcox’s WIFE
MAYOR of St Albans
BEADLE
TOWNSMEN
ELEANOR’S PENANCE 2. 4
Sir John STANLEY
SHERIFF of London
HERALD, SERVANTS
Officers, Commoners
GLOUCESTER’S MURDER 3. 2
Two MURDERERS
Commons
SUFFOLK’S MURDER 4.1
LIEUTENANT
MASTER
Master’s MATE
Walter WHITMORE
Two GENTLEMEN
CADE’S REBELLION 4.2–10
GEORGE
NICK
Jack CADE
Dick the BUTCHER
Smith the WEAVER
Sawyer
Rebels
Emmanuel the CLERK of Chartham
MICHAEL
Sir Humphrey STAFFORD
Stafford’s BROTHER
Lord SAYE
Lord SCALES
Matthew GOUGH
Alexander IDEN
Drummers, Soldiers, Trumpeter
CITIZENS
OTHERS
Attendants, Falconers, Guards
POST, MESSENGERS
King Henry VI, Part 2
1.1 Flourish of trumpets; then hautboys. Enter the KING, GLOUCESTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK and CARDINAL Beaufort, on the one side; the QUEEN, SUFFOLK, YORK, SOMERSET and BUCKINGHAM, on the other; with attendants.
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,
5
In presence of the Kings of France and Sicil,
The Dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretagne and Alençon,
Seven earls, twelve barons and twenty reverend bishops,
I have performed my task and was espoused,
And humbly now upon my bended knee, [Kneels.]
10
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,
15
The fairest queen that ever king received.
KING Suffolk arise. [Suffolk rises.]
– Welcome, Queen Margaret:
I can express no kinder sign of love
Than this kind kiss. [Kisses her.]
– O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
20
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 Great King of England, and my gracious lord,
The mutual conference that my mind hath had
25
By day, by night, waking and in my dreams,
In courtly company, or at my beads,
With you mine alderliefest sovereign,
Makes me the bolder to salute my King
With ruder terms, such as my wit affords
30
And overjoy of heart doth minister.
KING 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.
35
Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.
ALL [Kneel.]
Long live Queen Margaret, England’s happiness!
QUEEN We thank you all. [Flourish.]
SUFFOLK My Lord Protector, so it please your grace,
Here are the articles of contracted peace
40
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,
45
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
50
delivered to the King her father.
[Lets the paper fall.]
KING Uncle, how now?
GLOUCESTER Pardon me, gracious lord.
Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart
And dimmed mine eyes, that I can read no further.
KING Uncle of Winchester, I pray read on.
55
CARDINAL [Reads.] Item, it is further agreed between them
that the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine shall
be released and delivered to the King her father, and she
sent over of the King of England’s own proper cost and
charges, without having any dowry.
60
KING
They please us well. – Lord Marquess, kneel down.
[Suffolk kneels.]
We here create thee the first Duke of Suffolk,
[Suffolk rises.]
And girt thee with the sword. – Cousin of York,
We here discharge your grace from being regent
I’th’ parts of France, till term of eighteen months
65
Be full expired. – Thanks, uncle Winchester,
Gloucester, York, Buckingham, Somerset,
Salisbury and Warwick.
We thank you all for this great favour done,
In entertainment to my princely Queen.
70
Come, let us in, and with all speed provide
<
br /> To see her coronation be performed.
Exeunt King, Queen and Suffolk with attendants.
Gloucester stays all the rest.
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.
75
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?
80
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?
85
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,
90
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?
95
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 conquered France,
100
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,
105
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.
110
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
115
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?
120
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.
125
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,
130
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 too hot:
135
It was the pleasure of my lord the King.
GLOUCESTER
My Lord of Winchester, I know your mind.
’Tis not my speeches that you do mislike,
But ’tis my presence that doth trouble ye.
Rancour will out: proud prelate, in thy face
140
I see thy fury. If I longer stay
We shall begin our ancient bickerings. –
The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works Page 214
