Henry VI, Part 2 (1591) is a Shakespearean history play about King Henry VI of England's inability to quell the bickering of his noblemen, the death of his trusted advisor Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and the political rise of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York; it culminates with the First Battle of St Albans (1455), the initial battle of the Wars of the Roses, which were civil wars between the House of Lancaster and the House of York.

In the early historical narrative of Henry VI, Part 1 (1591), William Shakespeare deals with the low morale consequent to the loss of England's French territories (1429–1453) during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) and the political machinations that precipitated the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). In the concluding play, Henry VI, Part 3 (1591), he deals with the fraternal horrors of civil war amongst Englishmen.

In English literature, The Tragedy of Richard III (1594) is included with the trilogy of stageplays about King Henry VI to make up an informal tetralogy of history plays about the family sagas that motivated the Wars of the Roses for control of the throne of England. Shakespeare's historical narrative begins with the death of Henry V of England in 1422 and continues for sixty-three years to the ascent of Henry VII of England in 1485.

Characters

Of the King's Party King Henry VI – King of England Queen Margaret – Queen to Henry VI Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester – Henry VI's uncle and Lord Protector of England Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester – Gloucester's wife Cardinal Beaufort – Bishop of Winchester, Henry VI's great-uncle William de la Pole – Marquis, later Duke, of Suffolk; lover of Queen Margaret Duke of Buckingham – Henry VI's second cousin once removed Duke of Somerset – Henry VI's first cousin once removed Lord Clifford – military commander Young Clifford – Lord Clifford's son

Of the Duke of York's Party Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York – Henry VI's second cousin one removed, asserts he should be king Edward, Earl of March – Richard's son Richard Plantagenet – Richard's son Earl of Salisbury – Richard's brother-in-law Earl of Warwick – Salisbury's son

The Petitions and the Combat Thomas Horner – armourer Peter Thump – his apprentice Petitioners, Prentices, Neighbours

The Conjuration John Hum – priest John Southwell – priest Margery Jourdayne – witch Roger Bolingbroke – conjurer Asmath – a spirit

The False Miracle Sander Simpcox – impostor Simpcox's wife Mayor of St Albans Alderman of St Albans A beadle of St Albans

Eleanor's Penance Sheriff of London Sir John Stanley – Governor of the Isle of Man (historically Sir Thomas Stanley) Gloucester's Servants Herald

Murder of Gloucester Two Murderers

Murder of Suffolk Lieutenant – commander of a ship Master of the Ship Master's Mate Walter Whitmore – sailor on ship Two Gentlemen – prisoners with Suffolk

The Cade Rebellion Jack Cade – rebel leader Dick the Butcher – rebel Smith the Weaver – rebel George Bevis – rebel John Holland – rebel John – rebel Emmanuel – Clerk of Chatham Sir Humphrey Stafford – military commander William Stafford – Sir Humphrey's brother Lord Saye – Lord High Treasurer Lord Scales – defends the Tower of London Matthew Gough – King's soldier stationed at the Tower (non-speaking role) Alexander Iden – Kentish Gentleman

Others Vaux – messenger Messengers, soldiers, guards, servants, commons, rebels, etc.

Synopsis

The play begins with the marriage of King Henry VI of England to the young Margaret of Anjou. Margaret is the protégée and lover of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk, who aims to influence the king through her. The major obstacle to Suffolk and Margaret's plan is the Lord Protector, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who is extremely popular with the common people and deeply trusted by the King. Gloucester's wife, however, has designs on the throne, and has been led by an agent of Suffolk to dabble in necromancy. She summons a spirit and demands it reveal the future to her, but its prophecies are vague and before the ritual is finished, she is interrupted and arrested. At court she is then banished, greatly to the embarrassment of Gloucester. Suffolk then conspires with Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Somerset to bring about Gloucester's ruin. Suffolk accuses Gloucester of treason and has him imprisoned, but before Gloucester can be tried, Suffolk sends two assassins to kill him. Meanwhile, Richard, 3rd Duke of York, reveals his claim to the throne to the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, who pledge to support him.

Suffolk is banished for his role in Gloucester's death, whilst Winchester (Cardinal Beaufort) contracts a fever and dies, cursing God. Margaret, horrified at Suffolk's banishment, vows to ensure his return, but he is killed by pirates shortly after leaving England, and his head sent back to the distraught Margaret. Meanwhile, York has been appointed commander of an army to suppress a revolt in Ireland. Before leaving, he enlists a former officer of his, Jack Cade, to stage a popular revolt in order to ascertain whether the common people would support York should he make an open move for power. At first, the rebellion is successful, and Cade sets himself up as Mayor of London, but his rebellion is put down when Lord Clifford (a supporter of Henry) persuades the common people, who make up Cade's army, to abandon the cause. Cade is killed several days later by Alexander Iden, a Kentish gentleman, into whose garden he climbs looking for food.

York returns to England with his army, claiming that he intends to protect the King from the duplicitous Somerset. York vows to disband his forces if Somerset is arrested and charged with treason. Buckingham swears that Somerset is already a prisoner in the tower, but when Somerset enters ("at liberty"), accompanied by the Queen, York holds Buckingham's vow broken, and announces his claim to the throne, supported by his sons, Edward and Richard. The English nobility take sides, some supporting the House of York, others supporting Henry and the House of Lancaster. A battle is fought at St Albans in which the Duke of Somerset is killed by York's son Richard, and Lord Clifford by York. With the battle lost, Margaret persuades the distraught King to flee the battlefield and head to London. She is joined by Young Clifford, who vows revenge on the Yorkists for the death of his father. The play ends with York, Edward, Richard, Warwick and Salisbury setting out in pursuit of Henry, Margaret and Clifford.

Sources

Shakespeare's primary source for 2 Henry VI was Edward Hall's The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York (1548). He also drew upon the second edition of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles (1587). Although Holinshed's treatment of the Wars of the Roses is derived in large part from Hall's work, even to the point of reproducing large portions of it verbatim, there are enough differences between Hall and Holinshed to establish that Shakespeare must have consulted both of them.Knowles (1999: 54–55)Warren (2000: 27)

For example, the marked contrast between Henry and Margaret, a recurring theme in the play, comes from Hall, who presents Henry as a "saint-like" victim of circumstances, and Margaret as a cunning and manipulative egotist.Warren (2000: 28–29) Shakespeare must have used Hall to establish York's claim to the throne (outlined in 2.2), as the corresponding section in Holinshed adds an extra generation to York's lineage.Warren (2000: 31) However, the meeting between Buckingham and York before the Battle of St Albans (dramatised in 5.1) is found only in Holinshed.Warren (2000: 30)

Only Holinshed contains information about the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, which Shakespeare used for the scenes of Cade's rebellion throughout Act 4 (for example, details such as having people killed because they could read, and promises of setting up a state with no money). The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was highly anti-intellectual and anti-textual as well, an aspect that Shakespeare used to characterize his version of Cade's Rebellion (while in reality, Cade's Rebellion was one of the first popular uprisings in England that used writing to voice their grievances). The presentation of Henry's reaction to the rebellion also differs in Hall and Holinshed. In Hall, Henry pardons everyone who surrenders and lets them all return home unpunished, and this is how Shakespeare presents it in the play. In Holinshed, by contrast, Henry convenes a court and has several of the leaders executed (as he did in reality). Another historical parallel found in Holinshed is that Henry is presented as unstable, constantly on the brink of madness, something which is not in Hall, who presents a gentle but ineffective King (again, Shakespeare follows Hall here).

Shakespeare's largest departure from Hall and Holinshed is in his conflation of the Cade rebellion, York's return from Ireland and the Battle of St Albans into one continuous sequence. Both Hall and Holinshed present these events as covering a four-year period (as they did in reality), but in the play they are presented as one leading directly, and immediately, to the other. This is how the events are depicted in Robert Fabyan's New Chronicles of England and France (1516), suggesting that this too may have been a source.Hattaway (1990: 67–69)

Another definite source for Shakespeare was Richard Grafton's A Chronicle at Large (1569). Like Holinshed, Grafton reproduces large passages of unedited material from Hall, but some sections are exclusive to Grafton, showing Shakespeare must also have consulted him.Warren (2000: 30–33) The false miracle for example (dramatised in 2.1) is found only in Grafton, not in Hall or Holinshed (although a similar scene is also outlined in John Foxe's Acts and Monuments, Book of Martyrs (1563), with which Shakespeare may have been familiar).Hattaway (1990: 15–16)

Date and text

Date

On 12 March 1594, a play was entered in the Stationers' Register by the bookseller Thomas Millington and printed in quarto by Thomas Creede later that year as The First part of the Contention betwixt the two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster, with the death of the good Duke Humphrey: And the banishment and death of the Duke of Suffolke, and the Tragicall end of the proud Cardinall of VVinchester, vvith the notable Rebellion of Jacke Cade: And the Duke of Yorkes first claime vnto the Crowne. It has been theorised that The Contention is a reported text of a performance of what is today called Henry VI, Part II.Warren (2000: 78–87) If so, the play was written no later than 1594.

However, it has been suggested the play may have been written several years earlier. Robert Greene's pamphlet Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit (entered in the Stationers' Register on 20 September 1592) mocks Shakespeare as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his 'tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide', supposes that he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you." This parody of 3 Henry VI, 1.4.138, where York refers to Margaret as a "tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!", proves that 3 Henry VI was well known by September 1592, which means it must have been staged before 23 June, when the government closed the theatres to prevent the spread of plague. As it is known for certain that 3 Henry VI was a sequel to 2 Henry VI, it is certain that if 3 Henry VI was on stage by June 1592, so too was 2 Henry VI and that both were probably written in 1591 or 1592.

For a discussion of whether the three parts of the trilogy were composed in chronological order, see 1 Henry VI.

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