King Henry VI - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1480294985 ISBN 13: 9781480294981

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012

Synopsis

Being a mere infant on the throne of England, King Henry VI is in trouble. The power struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York resurfaces. A feud between the Duke of Gloucester the current ruler and cardinal, while the Duke of York and Richard Plantagenet are engaged in a fierce disagreement where they are more concerned with destroying one another than they are in protecting England. Talbot the leader in France is unable to suppress the French and is being driven back to the sea by Joan of Arc. William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language. Works of Romeo and Juliet, Othello, A Mid Summer's Night Dream and The Taming of the Shrew have been taught and been on stage since they were written. His influence on culture is far more reaching as he has invented many of the words that we are using today.

About this title

Review:

The three plays that make up the Henry VI cycle are believed to be some of Shakespeare's very first plays. They certainly read as apprentice works, and are often neglected in favour of the more comical and dramatically assured plays Henry IV and Henry V. However, the Henry VI plays dramatise the inauspicious history of Henry V's son, Henry VI, who is only nine months old when his father dies. The play deals with the factions at court who quarrel for political control, led by the Duke of Gloucester and the Cardinal of Winchester. As political intrigue divides the English court, its army continues to fight in France in a desperate attempt to hold on to the gains made by Henry V, whose tradition is upheld by the ferocious figure of Lord Talbot, pitched against La Pucelle, better known as Joan of Arc. An uneasy peace is finally established following the execution of Joan and marriage of Henry VI to the French princess Margaret of Anjou. However, Margaret is revealed to be having an affair with the Earl of Suffolk, and it becomes clear that Henry's troubles are far from over. Criticised for their somewhat crude characterisation (especially in its portrayal of women), all three of the Henry VI plays remain fascinating as early examples of Shakespeare's dramatisation of English history. --Jerry Brotton

Book Description:

John Dover Wilson's New Shakespeare, published between 1921 and 1966, became the classic Cambridge edition of Shakespeare's plays and poems until the 1980s. The series, long since out-of-print, is now reissued. Each work contains a lengthy and lively introduction, main text, and substantial notes and glossary.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1480294985
• ISBN 13: 9781480294981
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112