SAYS WIKI: Henry VI, Part 1 or The First Part of Henry the Sixt (often written as 1 Henry VI) is a history play by William Shakespeare, and possibly Thomas Nashe, believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas 2 Henry VI deals with the King’s inability to quell the bickering of his nobles, and the inevitability of armed conflict, and 3 Henry VI deals with the horrors of that conflict, 1 Henry VI deals with the loss of England’s French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, as the English political system is torn apart by personal squabbles and petty jealousy.
Although the Henry VI trilogy may not have been written in chronological order, the three plays are often grouped together with Richard III to form a tetralogy covering the entire Wars of the Roses saga, from the death of Henry V in 1422 to the rise to power of Henry VII in 1485. It was the success of this sequence of plays which firmly established Shakespeare’s reputation as a playwright.
Henry VI, Part 1 is regarded by some as the weakest play in Shakespeare’s oeuvre and, along with Titus Andronicus, is one of the strongest candidates for evidence of Shakespeare collaborating with other dramatists early in his career.
KING HENRY THE SIXTH
DUKE OF GLOUCESTER uncle to the King, and Protector.
DUKE OF BEDFORD uncle to the King, and Regent of France
THOMAS BEAUFORT Duke of Exeter, great-uncle to the King.
HENRY BEAUFORT Bishop of Winchester, afterwards Cardinal.
JOHN BEAUFORT Earl, afterwards Duke, of Somerset.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET son of Richard late Earl of Cambridge,
EARL OF WARWICK
EARL OF SALISBURY
EARL OF SUFFOLK
LORD TALBOT afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury
JOHN TALBOT Lord Talbot’s son
EDMUND MORTIMER Earl of March
SIR JOHN FASTOLFE
SIR WILLIAM LUCY
SIR WILLIAM GLANSDALE
SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE
Mayor of London
WOODVILE Lieutenant of the Tower.
VERNON of the White-Rose or York faction.
BASSET of the Red-Rose or Lancaster faction.
A Lawyer
Mortimer’s Keepers
CHARLES Dauphin, and afterwards King, of France.
REIGNIER Duke of Anjou, and titular King of Naples.
DUKE OF BURGUNDY
DUKE OF ALENCON
BASTARD OF ORLEANS
Governor of Paris
Master-Gunner of Orleans
and his Son
General of the French forces in Bourdeaux
A French Sergeant
A Porter
An old Shepherd, father to Joan la Pucelle
MARGARET daughter to Reignier, afterwards married to King Henry.
COUNTESS OF AUVERGNE
JOAN LA PUCELLE commonly called Joan of Arc
Lords, Warders of the Tower, Heralds, Officers,
Soldiers, Messengers, and Attendants.
Fiends appearing to La Pucelle.
SCENE: Partly in England, and partly in France.
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