by Stefanina Hill

Created on: November 08, 2009

The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth by William Shakespeare is the second in a series of four historical plays often referred to as "The First Tetralogy". The play deals with the reign of Henry the Sixth and the tetralogy as a whole depicts the War of the Roses.

Henry the Sixth Part Two commences with Suffolk presenting Margaret to King Henry. Margaret is daughter to the French Lord Rene and King Henry, having been impressed by Suffolk's description of her beauty, plans to marry her even though she is not wealthy or of high birth. Suffolk has wooed Margaret on behalf of Henry and plans to use her to control the king.

Henry's lords had hoped that he would choose a match designed to ease the relations between France and England and are disappointed at the young King's willful rejection of a more politically prudent choice.

Gloucester reads the terms of the recent peace treaty drawn up with France and is disturbed when it is understood that Anjou and Maine must be returned to Margaret's father in exchange for his consent to her marriage. The return of these lands worries Gloucester since they were originally won by Henry the Fifth. This sacrifice revives fears about the prophecy that Henry the Fifth would win all and Henry the Sixth would lose all.

Old rivalries are renewed between various lords over this new source of division. Some of the lords dislike Gloucester's influence over King Henry and the Cardinal, known in the previous play as Winchester, encourages this bad feeling against Gloucester even though he is not popular himself.

Warwick and Salisbury speak about their fears for the Kingdom, they wish to rival the actions of Suffolk and Beaufort (the Cardinal). York, known in the last play as Richard Plantagenet, is angered at Henry's decision to relinquish the French lands and believes that he himself has a strong claim on the English throne. Unable to assert this claim immediately York sides with Salisbury and Warwick in the aim of suppressing Suffolk and the Cardinal.

Gloucester's ambitious wife, Eleanor, has a dream in which she is crowned Queen of England. Gloucester is Uncle to Henry and therefore second in line to the throne. Gloucester himself has dreamt of the staff which is his badge office in court being broken.

Eleanor enlists the help of Hume to hire a witch who can use supernatural powers to tell her about the future of Henry's reign. The Cardinal is secretly bribing Hume to encourage Eleanor to dabble in the occult. Since involvement

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>