Henry the Sixth is History: Historical Timeline

Here’s a rough assemblage of dates/events of historical importance to The First Part of Henry the Sixth… we’ll hit the military stuff tomorrow.
Continue reading “Henry the Sixth is History: Historical Timeline”

Sources

According to most critics, the source material for most of Shakespeare’s histories (including The First Part of Henry the Sixth) was Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland.  Holinshed was only one of a three main authors of the work (the other two being William Harrison and Richard Stanyhurst), and their work was first printed in 1577, about fifteen years before the composition of 1HenryVI.
Continue reading “Sources”

Podcast 14: The First Part of Henry the Sixth Introduction

This week’s podcast includes an introduction to and a plot synopsis for The First Part of Henry the Sixth, plus a recap of this week’s blog entries.

Errata:
17:46 — Text should be “English retake the city” instead of “French retake the city”
Continue reading “Podcast 14: The First Part of Henry the Sixth Introduction”

Act Five

Was Henry at this point too young to read?  We’ll take a look a chronological time later in the month…

Act Five of The First Part of Henry the Sixth begins with Henry asking Gloucester if the Lord Protector has read the letters from the pope and the Earl of Armagnac. The letters request that Henry end his military excursion into France and to enter a time of peace.  Henry agrees that this makes sense.
Continue reading “Act Five”

Act Four

Act Four, Scene One of The First Part of Henry the Sixth begins with Henry’s coronation on French soil.  Before Gloucester can secure an oath of loyalty from the Governor of Paris, however, Sir John Fastolf (not Falstaff) arrives with a letter from Burgundy.  The mere presence of Fastolf (a man widely regarded–within the play–as a coward) enrages Talbot so that he tears the badge of the Order of Garter off Fastolf.  After both Talbot and Gloucester berate Fastolf, King Henry banishes him from England “on pain of death” (IV.i.47).
Continue reading “Act Four”

Act Three

Get yer roses here, folks.  Can’t tell your characters without roses!

Act Three of The First Part of Henry the Sixth begins with a meeting of the English nobles, including — for the first time in the play — our title character, the “young King Henry” (III.i.1 s.d.).  Exeter, Gloucester, and Winchester are in attendance, as are Somerset and Suffolk (with red roses), and Warwick and Richard Plantagenet (with white roses).
Continue reading “Act Three”

Act Two, Scenes Four and Five

According to critics, Act Two, Scene Four of The first Part of Henry the Sixth is pure Shakespeare, with no credit afforded to Holinshed or his Chronicles (and more on those in a later post).  It’s a talky scene, as befits a discourse between young aristocratic lawyers. The scene is set in a “rose briar” (II.iv.1 s.d.), and here members of the two quarreling factions meet.  Not the Gloucester/Winchester factions; those factions seem to be more concerned with who shall have control over young King Henry.  No, these factions’ quarrel is over who should be king in the first place.
Continue reading “Act Two, Scenes Four and Five”

Act Two, Scenes One-Three

Act Two of The First Part of Henry the Sixth begins on a siege wall, with French soldiers preparing for a late night vigil on the wall outside Orleans.  Below, Talbot, Bedford and Burgundy (a loyal French noble) discuss the military situation in preparation for an attack on the wall.  Again, the French victories are attributed to “sorcery” (II.i.15), “witches and the help of hell” (II.i.18).  As for Joan, again, they insult her in terms both promiscuous and overly masculine.  Talbot is still sure of his own power and loyalties; as he and his soldiers mount the wall, he says that he begins his attack for Salisbury and “for the right // Of English Henry” (II.i.35-36).
Continue reading “Act Two, Scenes One-Three”

Act One, Scene Fives through Eight (the rest of the act)

The remaining four scenes of Act One of The First Part of Henry the Sixth are of a piece (like scenes two and three).  Again, we’re back in France, and at war.
Continue reading “Act One, Scene Fives through Eight (the rest of the act)”

Shakespeare’s English Succession of Kings

OK, so I’ve been working on a family tree to tie together Shakespeare’s history plays (and Macbeth).  I did the original on Visio… but the canvas got WAY too big, nearly 70 wide in is full size.  So how the heck was I supposed to present that?
Continue reading “Shakespeare’s English Succession of Kings”