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1 Henry VI
And here I prophesy: this brawl today,
Grown to this faction in the Temple Garden,
Shall send between the red rose and the white
A thousand souls to death and deadly night.
(1 Henry VI, 2.iv. 124-7)
Part 1 begins with the premature death in 1422 of Henry V, known as “warlike
Harry,” whose victory at Agincourt two years earlier secured the thrones
of England and France for his infant son, Henry VI. Close relatives gather
for the funeral, but the mourning quickly turns into discord as messengers
arrive to announce serious military setbacks in France. As soon as Henry
V is buried, his conquests begin to deteriorate.
The conflict and feuding rages on three levels: internal fighting between
Henry V’s family, all members of the House of Lancaster; fighting between
the House of Lancaster and House of York, which also has a claim to the
throne; and international fighting between England and France. Each level
of conflict exacerbates the others and fighting between relatives, noblemen,
and nationalities is intertwined.
Within the House of Lancaster, Henry VI’s guardian Humphrey, Duke of
Gloucester, quarrels with his rival, the Bishop (later Cardinal) of Winchester.
Each accuses the other of trying to control Henry VI for his own purposes.
In 1455, Henry complicates things further when he refuses a politically
astute marriage and instead marries Margaret of Anjou, whom the Duke of
Gloucester opposes. Suffolk, who woos and wins Margaret for the King,
and who wants to dislodge Gloucester, plans to carry on a love affair
with her in England. Through the queen, Suffolk hopes to control the kingdom.
Even more dangerously, the family feud spreads to Henry VI’s cousin,
Richard Plantagenet, head of the House of York, who also has a claim to
the crown. The Lancasters and Yorks gather their supporters in a key scene
set in the Temple Garden—wholly invented by Shakespeare—where courtiers
are asked to choose sides. Those who back Richard, Duke of York, choose
a white rose; those who back Somerset, a Lancastrian, choose a red rose.
Thus the conflict known as “The Wars of the Roses” begins.
On the international level, the French exploit the power squabbles in
England, raising an army and crowning Charles the Dauphin King of France,
in direct challenge to Henry’s holding of that title. Joan of Arc, who
is later captured and burned at the stake by the British, inspires and
wins significant victories for the French. Lord Talbot, England’s seemingly
insurmountable general is captured and later killed. But it is the internal
fighting in the House of Lancaster, combined with the French opposition,
which brings about the loss of British holdings in France.
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2 Henry VI
No sooner was I crept out of my cradle
But I was made a king at nine months old;
Was never subject long’d to be a king
As I do long and wish to be a subject.
(2 Henry VI, 4.ix.3-6)
Once the nobles have chosen sides, the power play between the Houses
of York and Lancaster begins in earnest. Queen Margaret arrives at court
and she and her lover, the Duke of Suffolk, join with other powerful nobles
to eliminate Gloucester, Henry VI’s guardian. They disgrace Gloucester’s
ambitious wife and then, at Suffolk’s devising, murder Gloucester. Although
they succeed in turning Henry VI against his protector, they misjudge
the people’s affection for Gloucester, and the people demand that the
murderers be brought to justice.
The Duke of York leaves England to lead an army in Ireland to put down
a bogus claim to the throne by a clothier, Jack Cade. Chaos takes hold
of nearly every level of society. Cade’s followers attack all forms of
established authority and Cade can no longer control the rebellion; he
goes into hiding from the mob and is killed by the man who shelters him,
Alexander Iden.
The Duke of York’s obstacles to the throne are falling away. Together
with his four sons and the army he led in Ireland, York opposes an army
led by Queen Margaret at St. Albans, where the Yorks win the first round
of the Wars of the Roses.
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3 Henry VI
I can add colors to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut! Were it further off, I’ll pluck it down.
(3 Henry VI, 3.ii.191-5)
Having won the Battle of St. Albans, the House of York confronts the
House of Lancaster in Parliament. Henry VI, to his wife’s disgust and
fury, agrees to York’s demand that he disinherit his son and proclaim
York his rightful heir. Margaret vows to destroy York, and thus the civil
war continues to rage. Revenge killings become almost common: Clifford’s
son kills York’s son Rutland, then is killed himself. As the war continues
to rage around him, pious, scholarly Henry VI witnesses a son who has
killed his father and a father who has killed his son. Queen Margaret
captures York, humiliates him with a paper crown and a handkerchief soaked
with his son’s blood, and then executes him.
However, Margaret’s victory is short-lived. At Tewksbury, Somerset and
Edward, Prince of Wales are captured. Somerset is beheaded and the prince
is taunted then killed in sight of his mother. With Henry VI imprisoned,
York’s eldest son assumes the throne as Edward IV. The new King’s brother,
the future Richard III, murders Henry VI while the old king prophesies
that Richard III will be a terror to many. In one of Shakespeare’s great
soliloquies, Richard verbally confirms this prophecy, and the play closes
with King Edward IV blessing his newborn son Edward V, and banishing Margaret
to France.
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Richard III
O Lord! Methought what pain it was to drown,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears,
Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks,
Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw’d upon,
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl...
All scattered in the bottom of the sea.
(Richard III, 1.iv.21-28)
The play opens after more than a decade of Edward IV’s reign. While outwardly,
order seems to be returning to England, Richard secretly plots his rise
to power. A debonair monster, morally and physically disfigured, Richard
enjoys the political games of pitting one person against another, and
moves with frightening speed and exhilaration to gain the throne. Queen
Margaret returns from banishment and delivers a series of memorable curses.
She curses 1) King Edward IV to die of sickness, 2) Edward V to die young,
3) Queen Elizabeth to live long, and be not wife, mother, or Queen, 4)
Rivers, Dorset, and Hastings to die unnatural deaths, 5) Richard III to
be friends of traitors and betrayed by friends, and 6) Queen Elizabeth
to later wish for Margaret’s help to curse Richard III. But the court
ignores Margaret’s prophecies, all of which come true. Richard sets about
masterminding the deaths of his elder brother George (drowned in a barrel
of wine) and King Edward’s two young sons (to whom he was appointed guardian
after their father’s death). Meanwhile, he pits his courtiers against
each other, bringing them into his confidence at one moment and then turning
on them the next.
Plotting indeed gains him the throne, but his machinations will also
be his undoing: his courtiers divide and gather armies to attack him.
The night before the decisive battle of Bosworth Field, all of Richard
III’s victims—including his brother; his wife Anne Neville; Henry VI and
Henry’s son Edward; Richard’s nephews; and any number of dukes and courtiers—come
to him in a dream and torment him. All repeat the phrase, “Despair and
die” which causes Richard to become increasingly desperate and, for the
first time, to doubt himself. The same ghosts also visit Richard’s enemy,
Richmond, and wish him luck.
The two armies meet on the field of battle with both generals giving
orations to their armies before the fight. Richmond kills Richard III,
is crowned Henry VII. Henry VII, a Lancaster, marries Edward IV’s daughter
Elizabeth, a York, thus ending the Wars of the Roses by uniting the houses
of York and Lancaster.
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