The Royal Shakespeare Company: Henry VI, part 3

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The Plays

Henry VI, part 1 | Henry VI, part 2 | Henry VI, part 3 | Richard III

Henry VI, Part 3

Having won the Battle of St. Albans, the House of York confronts the House of Lancaster in Parliament. Henry VI, to his wife’s disgust and fury, proposes a settlement which would leave himself king during his lifetime but would settle the succession on York and his heirs, effectively disinheriting his and Margaret’s son Edward. Margaret vows to destroy York, and so the civil war continues to rage. Revenge killings become common; Margaret captures York, humiliates him with a paper crown and a handkerchief soaked with his son’s blood, and then executes him.

Fathers kill sons, and sons kill fathers. The House of York prevails, Henry VI is imprisoned, and the Duke of York’s son assumes the throne as Edward IV, unaware that his brother Richard is already plotting against him.

The new king’s brother, the future Richard III, murders Henry VI while the old king prophesies that Richard III will be a terror to many. In one of Shakespeare’s great soliloquys, Richard confirms this prophecy in chilling self-analysis. The play closes with King Edward IV blessing his newborn son Edward V, and banishing Margaret to France.