Henry IV Part 1
was published in 2007. The copy I read was the 2009 Modern Library Paperback Edition.
The Second Part Of King Henry IV by
William Shakespeare – This time around I went with the Arden Shakespeare
edition, edited by A.R. Humphreys. The text of this edition is based largely on
the Quarto of 1600, and is heavily annotated, occasionally using comparisons to
other works to further illustrate a point. There are also interesting notes
regarding language, such as this: “‘Its’ as possessive pronoun appears in books
just before 1600 but not in the Bible or any of Shakespeare’s works in his
lifetime” (p. 25). This volume contains an informative and long introduction,
going into detail on different topics related to the play. There is a section
on whether two plays were intended by Shakespeare, or one that became too long.
“The conclusion, then, is that Shakespeare seemingly intended two plays from
the outset, or very near it; that Daniel shaped the one play for him and Holinshed
the other; that the Wild-Prince traditions required Hal to spend most of each
play in disgrace but that Daniel’s account showed him as heroic at Shrewsbury
and Holinshed’s as kingly at his accession; that while naturalistically
speaking these twin-redemptions are an incoherence, dramatically and by
folk-tale or morality canons they are acceptable” (p. xxviii). The book also
details the ways in which Shakespeare diverges from Holinshed’s Chronicles, and gets into the
differences between the Quarto and the Folio editions of the play. This volume
also contains a lot of the source material.
The Wars Of The Roses by Charles Ross
– While this is a book on the history of the strife between the houses of York
and Lancaster, and not strictly a Shakespeare book, it does of course mention
Shakespeare several times. Ross writes, “From Polydore the idea of divine
retribution reached down to Shakespeare, in whom, however, it was often in dire
conflict with notions of fate, fortune, the limited influence of free will and
the malign or benignant influence of the stars” (p. 8). Ross indicates that
these civil wars were widely written about in the Tudor period. Ross writes:
“In Shakespeare’s hands, civil war reached a high point of terror. With
dramatic licence to avoid (except for passing mention) ‘this weak piping time
of peace’, to telescope events so that the cruel highlights are illuminated,
even to introduce avenging ghosts into the dreams of a remorseful king, the
picture became much more terrifying” (p. 10). Later he adds, “Shakespeare made
the greater battles of the Wars of the Roses – Barnet and Bosworth, Towton and
Tewkesbury – part of the folklore of English history” (p. 109). This book
dispels some of the misconceptions about the period, including the significance
of the roses as emblems, with Ross writing “the so-called Red Rose of Lancaster
was not used at all by Henry VI, the chief Lancastrian protagonist in the civil
wars, although it became the principal badge of Henry Tudor after his accession
to the throne as Henry VII in 1485” (pages 11-13). Regarding Richard III, Ross
writes: “The existence of these rivalries was what made possible Duke Richard’s
seizure of the throne in June 1483. Probably it was fear for his own safety and
future which inspired his action, rather than any deep-laid plan or the
determination ‘to prove a villain’ which Shakespeare and the Tudor tradition
attributed to him. But in the circumstances his seizure of power could only be
achieved by extremely violent means, and these seriously weakened the ruling
Yorkist party and heightened the divisions within it” (pages 94-95). He also
writes: “Richard was by no means the personification of evil which he was to
become in the hands of hostile Tudor propagandists. He had charm, energy and
ability, and he worked hard to win popularity. But it took time to live down
the legacy of suspicion and mistrust generated by the violence of his
usurpation” (p. 100). It is interesting to learn that, as Ross writes, “the
Wars of the Roses were essentially – but with important exceptions like Towton,
St. Albans and Bosworth – a series of local conflicts” (p. 137). Also: “In the
fifteenth century, the forces were mostly unprofessional and unpaid, and
problems of supply meant that they could not be kept together for more than a
few weeks at the very most” (p. 150). Ross then adds, “Because of the highly
intermittent nature of the fighting, the impact of civil war on the daily life
and security of the ordinary Englishman was much less significant and far
reaching than it was to be in the seventeenth century” (p. 150). This book
contains plenty of historical illustrations too.
Henry VI Part 1 by William Shakespeare
– The BBC put on productions of all thirty-seven Shakespeare plays in the 1970s
and 1980s, and published books to accompany the televised series. This volume
is from The BBC TV Shakespeare series. It includes a preface by John Wilders,
in which he contends that the three parts of Henry The Sixth were written in chronological order, and that Henry VI Part 1 was Shakespeare’s first
play to be performed in a theatre. He mentions that while it was popular at
that time, it has since been one of Shakespeare’s least performed plays. John
Wilders also provides an introduction, in which he talks about the power of the
play’s opening scene and the importance of the play. Regarding the three parts
of Henry VI, Wilders writes, “They
are plays about internal dissension and violence written during a time of unity
and peace, and to that extent maybe have been, indirectly, tributes to the
Queen who had brought to the country more than thirty years of stability” (p.
12). Concluding the introduction, Wilders writes: “If we follow the course of
all three plays, we can see that Shakespeare was not only fascinated by the
causes which change history but saw their effects largely as a series of
ironies. For him history was a record of human inadequacy” (p. 17). This volume
provides a genealogical table to help us keep track of the players. The book
also contains notes of the television production by Henry Fenwick, including
thoughts from the show’s director Jane Howell and designer Oliver Bayldon on
the play, the set, the battle scenes and so on. There are some notes throughout
the text on omitted lines and such, but no footnotes explaining words or
phrases. Instead, a glossary is included. There are also several photos, both
color and black and white, from the production
Henry VI Part 1 by David Oyelowo –
This is a volume in the Actors On Shakespeare series, in which actors share
their thoughts and experiences regarding certain roles. David Oyelowo is the
first black actor to play an English king for the Royal Shakespeare Company,
playing Henry VI in November of 2000, and this book provides a personal account
of some of the worries an actor has when approaching Shakespeare. He talks
about the historical inaccuracies of the play, and about learning to ignore the
actual history and instead focus on the text. He also talks about the way
certain scenes were staged. He writes: “I’ve heard it said that an actor can’t
play being royalty; it is a quality given you by those around you. I found this
to be true” (p. 15). Regarding Gloucester, he writes: “I took special delight
in the Gloucester-Henry relationship because I was aware that it would be my
only opportunity within the three Henry VI plays to explore requited love.
Henry and Gloucester are never at any point dishonest with each other – the
exact opposite of Henry’s involvement with nearly every other character except
Talbot” (p. 23). Regarding actors playing multiple roles, he writes: “Michael’s
idea to have any actor whose character had died re-emerge as a new character
but retain the philosophy of their former incarnation (i.e. remain a
Lancastrian or a Yorkist) meant that, even though nearly every actor played
more than one character, the audience were never lost as to where their
allegiance lay. The idea behind having the actress playing Joan re-emerge as
Margaret was so that the audience would make a connection between these two
characters, who both in their own ways are England’s nemesis” (p. 45). This
book also contains an introduction by series editor Colin Nicholson.
Henry VI Part 2 by William Shakespeare
– This volume is part of The BBC TV Shakespeare series. As with the previous
volume, this book contains a preface and an introduction, both written by John
Wilders. IN the preface he mentions that the early published version of this
play is an inferior, reported text, dictated to the printer by some of the
actors involved. In the introduction he writes, “The history plays, like
history itself, reveal that no problem can ever be said to have been finally
settled, and that the resolution of one crisis more often than not creates a
different kind of crisis: the King’s marriage to Margaret arouses discontent
among his peers, the murder of Gloucester provokes an uprising among the
citizens of London, and York’s victory at St. Alban’s incites Margaret to
retaliate against him” (p. 9). A little later he writes: “Shakespeare has so
constructed the play that each uprising is more violent than the previous one
and involves an increasingly greater part of the population. At the end of the
first episode one man has been secretly smothered in his bed but at the end of
the last England itself has become a battlefield” (pages 10-11). And regarding
Cade, Wilder writes: “Cade’s apparently popular mutiny is, moreover,
deliberately engineered by York who has known him since their campaigning days
together in Ireland, and is designed to test public opinion before York himself
embarks on what will be the real rebellion. He is thus the figure who links the
three sections, each one of which brings him closer to the crown” (p. 11).
Henry Fenwick provides notes on the television production, mentioning the
changes in tone and costumes form the first part to the second, as well as
changes in the way fights and battles were staged. As with the previous volume,
there are some notes in the margins of the text, on omitted lines and such, but
no footnotes. Instead, there is a glossary. The book contains a genealogical
table to help us keep track of the relationships, as well as several photos
from the production, both color and black and white.
Henry VI Part 3 by William Shakespeare
– This volume is part of The BBC TV Shakespeare series. As was the case with
the previous two volumes, this book contains a preface and an introduction,
both written by John Wilders. In the preface, he talks about the early, corrupt
edition of the play which was printed in 1595, and about the adaptations that
were presented. In the introduction, he describes some of the play’s action and
the shifting allegiances, writing, “There is, however, one cause for which
several of the characters are prepared to make sacrifices, even of their lives
if necessary, and that is revenge, a word which is spoken with increasing
frequency as the play develops” (p. 11). He adds, “Family loyalties take
precedence over public responsibility and, moreover, as Shakespeare repeatedly
shows us during the action of the play, violence provokes violence” (p. 12).
And soon it is as if “violence appears to acquire a momentum of its own” (p.
15). Henry Fenwick provides some notes on the television production, including
thoughts from director Jane Howell and fight choreographer Malcolm Ranson.
There are a few notes in the margins of the text, indicating cut or changed
lines, but no footnotes. Instead, there is a glossary. The book contains a
genealogical table, to help us keep the participants straight in our minds, and
several production photos, some in color, some in black and white.
The Second Part Of
King Henry IV was originally published in 1981, and reprinted in 2001 and
2003 by Thomson.
The Wars Of The
Roses was published in 1976. The first paperback edition came out in 1986,
and the edition I read was the 1994 reprint.
Henry VI Part 1
was published in 1983.
Henry VI Part 1 was
published in 2003.
Henry VI Part 2
was published in 1983.
Henry VI Part 3
was published in 1983.
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