William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Parts One, Two & Three

Randall Martin (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton)

Ed. by Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1590 - c. 1592

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Historical
Play

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Recommended Reading

The three early history plays known by the rather uninspiring titles

Henry VI Parts One, Two,

and

Three

are now among Shakespeare's lesser known works, but they earned him spectacular public success as an emerging London playwright in the 1590s. Much of their dramatic appeal lies in physical action conveyed through visual stagecraft, as well as intense emotions expressed through actors' suffering bodies. Their imaginative scope is also vast in terms of numbers of characters and variety of human relationships. This roster includes more substantial and experimental women's roles – above all Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc) and Queen Margaret – than the minor female parts in Shakespeare's later English histories (

Richard II

Henry IV

Henry V

). The exuberant physicality and creative…

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8655 words

Citation: Martin, Randall. "Henry VI, Parts One, Two & Three". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 May 2005; last revised 10 February 2020. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4804, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Parts One, Two & Three

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