His currish riddles sorts not26 with this place.
GLOUCESTER By heaven, brat, I'll plague ye for that word.
QUEEN MARGARET Ay, thou wast born to be a plague to men.
GLOUCESTER For God's sake, take away this captive scold29.
PRINCE EDWARD Nay, take away this scolding crookback rather.
KING EDWARD IV Peace, wilful boy, or I will charm31 your tongue.
CLARENCE Untutored lad, thou art too malapert32.
PRINCE EDWARD I know my duty. You are all undutiful:
Lascivious Edward, and thou perjured George,
And thou misshapen Dick35, I tell ye all
I am your better, traitors as ye are,
And thou usurp'st my father's right and mine.
KING EDWARD IV Take that, the likeness of this railer38 here.
Stabs him
GLOUCESTER Sprawl'st thou?39 Take that to end thy agony.
Richard stabs him
CLARENCE And there's for twitting40 me with perjury.
Clarence stabs him
QUEEN MARGARET O, kill me too!
GLOUCESTER Marry, and shall42.
Offers to kill her
KING EDWARD IV Hold, Richard, hold, for we have done too much.
GLOUCESTER Why should she live to fill the world with words?
KING EDWARD IV What, doth she swoon? Use means for her recovery.
GLOUCESTER Clarence, excuse me to the king my brother.
I'll hence to London on a serious matter.
Ere ye come there, be sure48 to hear some news.
CLARENCE What? What?
GLOUCESTER Tower, the Tower.
Exit
QUEEN MARGARET O Ned, sweet Ned! Speak to thy mother, boy.
Canst thou not speak? O, traitors, murderers!
They that stabbed Caesar shed no blood at all,
Did not offend, nor were not worthy blame,
If this foul deed were by to equal it55.
He was a man; this, in respect56, a child,
And men ne'er spend their fury on a child.
What's worse than murderer, that I may name it?
No, no, my heart will burst, an if I speak --
And I will speak, that so my heart may burst.
Butchers and villains, bloody cannibals!
How sweet a plant have you untimely62 cropped.
You have no63 children, butchers! If you had,
The thought of them would have stirred up remorse64.
But if you ever chance to have a child,
Look66 in his youth to have him so cut off
As, deathmen, you have rid67 this sweet young prince.
KING EDWARD IV Away with her: go, bear her hence perforce68.
QUEEN MARGARET Nay, never bear me hence, dispatch69 me here:
Here70 sheathe thy sword, I'll pardon thee my death.
What, wilt thou not? Then, Clarence, do it thou.
CLARENCE By heaven, I will not do thee so much ease72.
QUEEN MARGARET Good Clarence, do, sweet Clarence, do thou do it.
CLARENCE Didst thou not hear me swear I would not do it?
QUEEN MARGARET Ay, but thou usest to forswear thyself75.
'Twas sin before, but now 'tis charity.
What, wilt thou not? Where is that devil's butcher, Richard?
Hard-favoured78 Richard? Richard, where art thou?
Thou art not here; murder is thy alms-deed79:
Petitioners for blood thou ne'er put'st back80.
KING EDWARD IV Away, I say: I charge ye, bear her hence.
QUEEN MARGARET So come to82 you and yours, as to this prince.
Exit Queen, [dragged out by Soldiers]
KING EDWARD IV Where's Richard gone?
CLARENCE To London all in post and, as I guess,
To make a bloody supper in the Tower.
KING EDWARD IV He's sudden86 if a thing comes in his head.
Now march we hence. Discharge the common sort87
With pay and thanks, and let's away to London
And see our gentle queen how well she fares:
By this, I hope, she hath a son for me.
Exeunt
[Act 5 Scene 6]
running scene 20
Enter Henry the Sixth and Richard, with the Lieutenant, on the walls
GLOUCESTER Good day, my lord. What, at your book1 so hard?
KING HENRY VI Ay, my good lord -- my lord, I should say rather.
'Tis sin to flatter. 'Good' was little better3.
'Good Gloucester' and 'good devil' were alike,
And both preposterous5: therefore, not 'good lord'.
GLOUCESTER Sirrah6, leave us to ourselves: we must confer.
[Exit Lieutenant]
KING HENRY VI So flies the reckless7 shepherd from the wolf,
So first the harmless sheep doth yield his fleece
And next his throat unto the butcher's knife.
What scene of death hath Roscius10 now to act?
GLOUCESTER Suspicion11 always haunts the guilty mind,
The thief doth fear each bush an officer.
KING HENRY VI The bird that hath been limed13 in a bush
With trembling wings misdoubteth14 every bush;
And I, the hapless male to one sweet bird15,
Have now the fatal object16 in my eye
Where17 my poor young was limed, was caught and killed.
GLOUCESTER Why, what a peevish fool was that of Crete,
That taught his son the office of a fowl19!
And yet, for all his wings, the fool20 was drowned.
KING HENRY VI I, Daedalus, my poor boy, Icarus,
Thy father, Minos, that denied our course22,
The sun23 that seared the wings of my sweet boy,
Thy brother Edward, and thyself the sea
Whose envious gulf25 did swallow up his life.
Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words!
My breast can better brook27 thy dagger's point
Than can my ears that tragic history28.
But wherefore dost thou come? Is't for my life?
GLOUCESTER Think'st thou I am an executioner?
KING HENRY VI A persecutor I am sure, thou art,
If murdering innocents be executing,
Why then, thou art an executioner.
GLOUCESTER Thy son I killed for his presumption.
KING HENRY VI Hadst thou been killed when first thou didst presume,
Thou hadst not lived to kill a son of mine.
And thus I prophesy, that many a thousand,
Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear38,
And many an old man's sigh and many a widow's,
And many an orphan's water-standing40 eye --
Men for their sons, wives for their husbands,
Orphans for their parents' timeless42 death --
Shall rue the hour that ever thou wast born.
The owl shrieked at thy birth -- an evil sign --
The night-crow cried, aboding45 luckless time,
Dogs howled, and hideous tempest shook down trees,
The raven rooked her47 on the chimney's top,
And chatt'ring pies in dismal48 discords sung.
Thy mother felt more than a mother's pain49,
And yet brought forth less than a mother's hope,
To wit, an indigested51 and deformed lump,
Not like the fruit of such a goodly tree.
Teeth hadst thou in thy head when thou wast born53,
To signify thou cam'st to bite the world.
And if the rest be true which I have heard,
Thou cam'st--
GLOUCESTER I'll hear no more: die, prophet, in thy speech,
For this amongst the rest, was I ordained58.
Stabs him
KING HENRY VI Ay, and for much more slaughter after this.
O, God forgive my sins and pardon thee!
Dies
GLOUCESTER What? Will the aspiring blood of Lancaster
Sink in the ground? I thought it would have mounted.
See how my sword weeps63 for the poor king's death.
O, may such purple tears be alway64 shed
From those that wish the downfall of our house.
If any spark of life be yet remaining,
Down, down to hell, and say I sent thee thither,
I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear.
Stabs him again
Indeed, 'tis true that Henry told me of,69
For I have often heard my mother say
I came into the world with my legs forward71.
Had I not reason, think ye, to make haste,
And seek their ruin that usurped our right?
The midwife wondered74 and the women cried
'O, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth!'
And so I was, which plainly signified
That I should snarl and bite and play the dog.
Then, since the heavens have shaped my body so,
Let hell make crook'd my mind to answer79 it.
I have no brother, I am like no brother.
And this word 'love', which greybeards81 call divine,
Be resident in men like82 one another
And not in me: I am myself alone.
Clarence, beware, thou keep'st me from the light84,
But I will sort a pitchy85 day for thee,
For I will buzz abroad such prophecies86
That Edward shall be fearful of87 his life,
And then, to purge his fear, I'll be thy death.
King Henry and the prince his son are gone.
Clarence, thy turn is next, and then the rest,
Counting myself but bad91 till I be best.
I'll throw thy body in another room
And triumph, Henry, in thy day of doom93.
Exit [with the body]
[Act 5 Scene 7]
running scene 21
Flourish. Enter King, Queen, Clarence, Richard, Hastings, Nurse [with the young Prince]. and Attendants
KING EDWARD IV Once more we sit in England's royal throne,
Repurchased with the blood of enemies.
What valiant foemen, like to autumn's corn,
Have we mowed down in tops4 of all their pride!
Three Dukes of Somerset, three-fold renowned
For hardy and undoubted champions6,
Two Cliffords, as7 the father and the son,
And two Northumberlands: two braver men
Ne'er spurred their coursers9 at the trumpet's sound.
With them, the two brave bears10, Warwick and Montague,
That in their chains fettered11 the kingly lion
And made the forest tremble when they roared.
Thus have we swept suspicion from our seat13
And made our footstool of security.--
Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy.--
Young Ned, for thee, thine uncles and myself
Have in our armours watched17 the winter's night,
Went all afoot18 in summer's scalding heat,
That thou mightst repossess the crown in peace,
And of our labours thou shalt reap the gain.
GLOUCESTER I'll blast his harvest, if your head were laid21,
Aside
For yet I am not looked on22 in the world.
This shoulder was ordained so thick23 to heave,
And heave it shall some weight, or break my back.
Work thou the way, and that shalt execute25.
KING EDWARD IV Clarence and Gloucester, love my lovely queen,
And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both.
CLARENCE The duty that I owe unto your majesty
I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe.
Kisses the baby
QUEEN ELIZABETH Thanks, noble Clarence. Worthy brother30, thanks.
GLOUCESTER And that I love the tree31 from whence thou sprang'st,
Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit.--
Kisses the baby
To say the truth, so Judas kissed his master33.
Aside
And cried 'All hail!' whenas34 he meant all harm.
KING EDWARD IV Now am I seated as my soul delights,
Having my country's peace and brothers' loves.
CLARENCE What will your grace have done with Margaret?
Reynard, her father, to the King of France
Hath pawned the Sicils and Jerusalem39,
And hither have they sent it40 for her ransom.
KING EDWARD IV Away with her, and waft41 her hence to France.
And now what rests but that we spend the time
With stately triumphs43, mirthful comic shows,
Such as befits the pleasure of the court.
Sound drums and trumpets! Farewell sour annoy45,
For here I hope begins our lasting joy.
Exeunt all
TEXTUAL NOTES
O = First Octavo text of 1595
Q3 = Third Quarto text of 1619
F = First Folio text of 1623
F2 = a correction introduced in the Second Folio text of 1632
F3 = a correction introduced in the Third Folio text of 1663-64
Ed = a correction introduced by a later editor SD = Stage direction
SH = Speech heading (i.e. speaker's names) List of parts = Ed
1.1.2 SH YORK = O. F = PI. or Plat. (throughout) 106 Thy = O. F = My 171 hear me = F3. F = heare 262 with me = O. F = me 264 from = O. F = to 276 SD Flourish printed as part of the entrance direction to the next scene in F
1.2.47 SD a Messenger = O. F = Gabriel (the name of an actor in Shakespeare's company) 49 SH MESSENGER = O. F = Gabriel
2.1.96 recount = F3. F = tecompt 130 an idle = O. F = a lazie 2.2.89 Since = F2. F = Cla. Since (assigning lines 89-92 to George of Clarence) 152 dauphin spelled Dolphin in F 164 SH GEORGE = O. F = Cla.
2.5.89 stratagems = F3. F = Stragems 90 Erroneous = F2. F = Erreoneous 119 E'en = Ed. F = Men 2.6.8 The ... flies = O. Not in F 44 SH EDWARD See ... is. = O. Assigned to Richard in F 60 his = O. F = is 91 sinew spelled sinow in F
3.1.0 SD two Keepers = O. F = Sinklo, and Humfrey (the names of actors in Shakespeare's company) 1 SH FIRST KEEPER = Ed. F = Sink. or Sinklo. (throughout) 5 SH SECOND KEEPER = Ed. F = Hum. throughout 17 wast = F3. F = was 30 Is = F2. F = I: 55 that = O. Not in F 3.2.8 SH GLOUCESTER F = Rich. 18 SH LADY GREY = Ed. F = Wid. 84 looks do = F2. F = Looks doth 124 honourably = O. F = honourable 3.3.126 external = F. O = eternall 4.1.93 thy = O. F = the
4.2.15 towns = Ed. F = Towne 4.4.17 wean spelled waine in F
4.5.4 stands = Ed. F = stand 8 Comes = Ed. F = Come 5.1.78 an = F2. F = in
5.7.5 renowned = Q3. F = Renowne 30 SH QUEEN ELIZABETH = O. F = Cla. Thanks = O. F = Thanke
SYNOPSES OF THE PLOTS
OF HENRY VI PART I,
PART II, AND PART III
HENRY VI PART I
ACT 1
Following the death of his father, Henry V, the young Henry VI is proclaimed king under the protectorship of his uncles, the Dukes of Gloucester and Exeter. There is conflict between Gloucester and his long-term rival, the Bishop of Winchester, and their respective supporters. News arrives of renewed war with France, and the king's uncles move to secure and reorganize the kingdom, sending Bedford to the aid of Talbot--a legendary warrior, much feared by the French--the leader of the English forces. In France, the Bastard of Orleans introduces the under-siege dauphin, Charles, to Joan la Pucelle, a maid who claims she has had visions that she must lead the French in battle. He challenges her to single combat and she wins, assuring the dauphin that she will break the siege and defeat the English. In London, Gloucester and Winchester renew their conflict: Winchester bars Gloucester from entering the Tower, and both parties come to blows, finally parted by the Lord Mayor. In France, Talbot is released in exchange for a French lord, and fights with Joan when the French attack. She wins, but spares him, and the French celebrate having Orleans back under t
heir control.
ACT 2
Talbot and other English lords immediately launch a surprise attack and retake the city. The dauphin feels Joan has betrayed him, but she urges him to have more faith in her. The French flee and the English bury their dead lords. A Messenger summons Talbot to the Countess of Auvergne, who has heard of his renown and wants to see him in person. He goes to her castle, where she tells him he has walked into a trap, but he says he is part of a much larger power than she can cope with and his army arrives to rescue him. Richard Plantagenet declares his animosity toward the Duke of Somerset. Each adopts a rose as an emblem for his faction: white for York, red for Lancaster. Richard later visits his uncle, Mortimer, in prison, who tells him of his rightful claim to the English throne through the Mortimer line of his family.
ACT 3
Gloucester and Winchester continue their struggles, this time with both their factions engaging in an open brawl in parliament. The young king implores them to be friends, fearing for the nation's stability if they create civil unrest. Warwick urges Richard Plantagenet's right to be restored to his hereditary titles, which Henry grants, making him Duke of York. All swear amity and part but Exeter sees the falseness of their promises and fears the prophecy that Henry's reign would end in ruin will be too true. In France, Charles the dauphin, fortified by his alliance with the mysterious maid Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc), begins to dominate the battles. Talbot attempts to draw the French out of the walled city of Rouen to fight fairly in the field but they refuse. The English attack anyway and win, though Bedford is killed. Joan sees another strategy, and passionately persuades Burgundy, a disgruntled French lord fighting with the English, to come back to the French side, thus strengthening their forces. Henry arrives in France and is greeted by Talbot. Vernon and Basset, of the Houses of York and Lancaster respectively, and also arrived in France with the English party, quarrel bitterly.
ACT 4
Henry is crowned. A letter arrives telling of Burgundy's revolt, and Talbot is sent to deal with him. Richard Duke of York and Somerset come to Henry about the quarrel between their men, Vernon and Basset, asking that they be allowed to fight in open combat. Henry is surprised to hear of the dissension between the two houses, and refuses to take sides and choose one rose over the other, nonetheless taking a red rose of Lancaster, which York privately resents. Exeter again predicts civil war. Talbot marches on Bordeaux and becomes trapped between the city walls and the dauphin's army, which attacks from the rear. As a direct result of the continuing enmity between York and Somerset, both fail to supply reinforcements to Talbot and his troops. Talbot begs his son, John, not to fight but to no avail. The battle ensues and both are killed. Sir William Lucy comes to the French and requests the bodies of the Talbots, taking them away and vowing revenge.