Well, we are finally done with the trilogy of Henry VI. After finishing part 1, I was a bit weary of getting through two more plays about the War of the Roses, but it turned out to be really great to spend so much time with these characters and finally get a firm understanding of the royal family tree. While the question of who held the true right to the throne remains up in the air, it was intriguing to follow how each character dealt with the war and to whom they showed support.
I found myself biased toward Henry’s side. I like how different he was. While Edward showed a competency for playing the “royal game,” Henry at least remained true to his beliefs and tried to do what he believed would bring peace. Even though throughout the battles you see that Henry still retains a certain amount of naïveté surrounding the cause of the civil war, his focus is on how the battles affect his people. He never gains ambition for power, or a desire to scheme and murder to keep his throne. I found this character trait refreshing and intriguing, even though the other characters in the play saw this as a weakness. As we know from reading our other Shakespearean plays, the people are usually portrayed as being easily swayed. Edward does obtain the crown from Henry, and being the one in power, also gains the loyalty of the people. Poor Henry ponders why his subjects’ allegiance is so easily given away. He describes them as a feather in the air, controlled by the greater gust of wind (III.1 ). Before Henry is murdered, he questions why he has lost their support:
“I have not stopp’d mine ears to their demands, / Nor posted off their suits with slow delays; / My pity hath been balm to heal their wounds. . . Then why should they love Edward more than me?” (IV.8)
My heart just reached out to Henry! While most of the Yorks turn out to not be the greatest people, they are not necessarily villains at this point. They are fighting for whom they think is the rightful heir to the throne. It is just so hard to support them, when Henry simply has the best intentions for everyone in his heart.
We also know from all our other Shakespeare plays that having power can make people do some questionable things—at least in the eyes of the surrounding nobility. I’m talking about marrying beneath your place to someone that provides you no strategic benefit or alliance for the strength of your rule. Edward falls in love with Lady Anne Grey, a French widow without any real wealth or title to her name. She goes from being a loyal subject to queen of England. The marriage causes him some problems. Warwick, who was an influential player in helping Edward get the throne, decides to switch to Team Lancaster after hearing about the hasty marriage. Warwick had been in France working hard to attain Lady Bona’s hand for Edward, providing Team York a strong alliance with France. He feels embarrassed and betrayed by Edward’s audacity. The marriage also aggravates Edward’s brother, George, who abandons his brother to support Warwick’s new allegiance to Henry. Edward’s other brother, Richard, admits his desire for the crown himself and shares with the audience his future, secret plans to thwart Edward’s reign. And, yes, this is the same Richard that eventually becomes King Richard III, and kills a bunch of people to gain the throne. Since we already read Richard III we know how much bloodshed is still to come. Ultimately, I believe that all Henry VI wanted was peace, even if that meant giving up his son’s chance to be king (which we did think was pretty uncool for a father to do, but once again makes Henry VI intriguing). As we discussed in parts 1 and 2, Henry had the crown since he was nine months old. Power has always been his and he was never able to see his own father rule. He is the rightful king in his eyes and in his heart. We see this best through his own words:
“My crown is in my heart, not on my head; / Not deck’d with diamonds and Indian stones, / Nor to be seen: my crown is call’d content; / A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy” (III.1)
While it was refreshing and beautiful to read this, it also made me feel a bit depressed. We knew that he would not only lose his throne, but he and his son would be murdered. He was too innocent to hold the crown, and as we know, there are still those who lust after the throne. It also made me wonder why everyone seems so content to be in the Tower of London. Don’t they know that is where everyone gets killed?! But that is a discussion for another blog post.
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