4.4/5 stars, full review to come! Mostly I’m a Queen Margaret stan, but the play was pretty good overall.


Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pacing: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Meh

The final entry in the Henry VI trilogy is another stellar entry and good setup for what is Shakespeare's most celebrated history, Richard III. The Henry VI trilogy is surprisingly good for it's lack of popularity and status. The history of England at the time is fascinating and perfect for a dramatic telling with all the betrayals, changing loyalties, and squabbling. Part 3 brings an end to the kingship of Henry VI who Shakespeare depicts as a pious but weak and ineffective king. Despite his kingship, he never leads at any point in all three of the plays and the story as a whole is more about Lancaster versus York. Had Henry been strong the civil war likely never would have continued as it did as Henry V proved.

For the Henry VI plays, I’m taking a bit of a different approach. I’m going to view the PBS’s The Hollow Crown versions http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/henry-vi-part-1/5955/ of these plays with the understanding that the three parts have been collapsed into two programs. I think the series is done extremely well; the sets and costumes are very detailed and realistic, and the acting is outstanding.

To prepare for the plays, I consulted my Shakespeare App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shakespeare/id285035416?mt=8 which gives a really good, in-depth summary of the plays. Also, the plot summaries from IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3974590/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl were very helpful.

This third part of the War of Roses tetralogy is action-packed and suspenseful. It really shows how chaotic the fight for the crown was. Loyalties flip, revenge roars, and many, many die in this lust for a power play.

The contrast of Richard’s strength and intelligence and Henry’s weakness as leaders is presented in a dramatic way. Richard, whose ambition for the crown, is very measured in his behavior and tempers his actions in a very strategic way. Henry, on the other hand, throughout all three plays wants everyone to get along but doesn’t provide a vision or strategy as to how to do it. He plays a very passive role.

I like how Shmoop discusses the theme of fate and free will. Regarding fate, both Henry believes the crown is his due to the will go God. Edward and Richard, however, take matters into their own hands and take a Machiavellian approach which drives their actions.

Quotes

“To weep is to make less the depth of grief.”

“Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.”

“O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!”

“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.”

“Why, I can smile and murder whiles I smile,
And cry 'content' to that which grieves my heart,
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face for all occasions”

“For trust not him that hath once broken faith”

“The smallest worm will turn being trodden on.”

“Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?

And, live we how we can, yet die we must.”

“Tell him from me that he hath done me wrong,

And therefore I'll uncrown him ere't be long.”

“Down, down to hell; and say I sent thee thither.”

“Yet hasty marriage seldom proveth well.”

“I know, I am too mean to be your queen;
And yet too good to be your concubine.”

“Why, courage, then! what cannot be avoided,
'Twere childish weakness to lament or fear.”

“Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so,
Let hell make crook'd my mind to answer it.
I have no brother, I am like no brother:
And this word—love, which greybeards call divine,
Be resident in men like one another,
And not in me; I am myself alone.”

All English noblemen are apparently either named Henry, Richard, Edward, or George, which makes tracking the characters in these plays slightly confusing.

So much high-pitched fighting, revenge and betrayals, it started to feel like a Monty Python version of Game of Thrones. But I can also imagine how the three parts would be entertaining and soapy to watch.