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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
Table of Contents PLOT (Structure): The play offers a clear account of aristocratic sedition and a portrait of internal dissension and seditious squabbling among the nobility that damaged England's power and authority abroad. Its scope is ambitious in that it attends to the large and public concerns of dynastic wars called the War of the Roses. The reign of Henry VI was not a peaceful one nor was it dominated by the personality of the monarch. It centered on personal ambition rather than any desire for reform. The play's structure focuses on battle scenes, scenes of squabbling between the two families, and deaths. It is a bloody and turbulent play that often times is redundant in action. A few soliloquies break up the action of the play, most notably Richard, the Duke of Gloucester's as well as King Henry's insightful ruminations about abandoning the crown. The play begins with the victory of the first battle of St. Albans on 22 May 1455. York, after winning the battle, goes straight to the Parliament House in London and proclaims himself the lawful heir to the throne. Henry unnaturally yields the succession of the crown to York and allows himself to be silenced whenever he tries to intervene. This weakness of the King leads to anarchy and in turn the freedom of the nobles to seek their personal interest and indulge in revenge. Edward introduces the theme of the play by persuading his father York to go back on his oath and claim the throne by force. Persuaded by his sons, York breaks his oath with Henry and tries to win the crown by force. But York is defeated and killed at the battle of Wakefield, a battle in which the barbarous Clifford plays a prominent part on the side of the Lancastrians. York's son Richard vows to take revenge on Clifford for killing his father. One murder leads to another. Richard is now developed into the most characteristic expression of singular ambition. His disregard for all personal, political and family obligations is expanded in his two long soliloquies. It is he who kills the prince and then King Henry. The climax is reached in Richard's complete disregard of any moral integrity by his final murder of Henry. This is the supreme outrage against political order. Act II ends with the fall of Clifford, who acts more like the King than the King does and is the Queen's favorite. Warwick announces the coronation of York's son, Edward and the scene prepares the way for the next act -- Warwick's mission to France, Edward's marriage and the consequences, cover the remaining half of the play. Act III begins with a scene exploring the main general Themes of the play - the divine rights of kings, the uses of adversity, the inwardness of content, the fickleness of men and the sanctity of oaths. The triumph of York on his way to coronation in London is contrasted with the plight of Henry of Lancaster who is coming to terms with his inabilities as a ruler in pastoral scene on the field of battle. Henry is then captured and brought back to be imprisoned in the Tower. The Act ends with the shattering of Warwick's loyalty towards Edward because of Edward's incontinence. Act IV ends with the defeat of Edward and his imprisonment, then his escape. With the help of Montgomery, he regains his lost strength and captures Henry again, who is set free by Warwick. This is the main action leading to the climax of the play. The climax of the play occurs in Scene 6 of the last act where Richard murders Henry. The sequence ends with a brief appearance of Edward's young son, later Edward V. The reign of Henry IV is a pattern of disorder, a mirror on the dynastic strife. It centers on personal ambition rather than any desire for reform. Here is an up and down struggle in which York, his son Rutland, Clifford, Prince Edward and Henry are the main victims. The outcome is that Edward of York is crowned and Margaret is banished yet Richard eagerly moves closer to the crown. The play is a study of perverse morality and ruthless ambitious within the state, the family, and in the mind of the individual. York's three sons are first united behind his ambition and then by a common thirst for revenge. Edward alienates his brothers by his obsession with the new queen and her family. Clarence deserts his father-in-law (Warwick) at a critical moment that leads to his downfall. A repeated theme is revealed most poignantly in the morality tableau where the father unknowingly kills his son and the son his father. Individual morality, custom, trust, duty self-control are dissolving. Unreasoning, fury, anger, hate, pride lust and ambition flourish. The climax is reached in Richard's complete disregard after his father's death of all obligations whatever the means and his lust for the crown. The play is an ironic commentary on the woes of civil war, sat against a vision of the pastoral life of England. The climax of the play occurs when Henry is murdered in the Tower, and Edward is crowned as King Edward IV. Although it is temporary, for the first time in the play disorder wanes and order is restored. Table of Contents | |
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