Shakespeare in a Year, 8 out of 37 plays: With Part 3, the Henry VI saga comes to a close. I'll admit, the plot is hard to follow on this one. There are so many oaths, betrayals, and stabbings that you almost have to keep a chart to keep the Lancasters and Yorks straight! I had to Wiki the War of the Roses to make sure I was getting the plot right.

Throughout the saga, I was particularly interested in Queen Margaret. Usually Shakespeare's women figures are weaklings that spend most of their speaking parts sobbing. Margaret, however, is blood-thirsty and powerful (a foil to her weakling husband Henry VI). I also liked how Shakespeare starts to develop the character of Richard III of later plays (though, only the Duke of Gloucester here) at the end of the play.

“Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?
And, live we how we can, yet die we must.”

I enjoyed this slightly more than the other two Henry VI's.

Yay! I finished this set of the history plays! Again, I still know precious little about British Royal history, but after watching The Hollow Crown: Wars of the Roses and a YouTube video that showed how Game of Thrones was influenced by the actual history, I could much better piece the plot together. Probably not ever going to be favorites of mine with Shakespeare, but I’m glad I was able to preserve and finish all three parts!

So much violence! But not as much as is coming...

George RR Martin said his inspiration for the war between the Starks and the Lannisters in Game of Thrones was the War of the Roses. Now, I know Shakespeare is not a historian, he is a playwright and thus takes some license with history. But wow, I saw echoes of Game of Thrones in here! After winning some victories, Edward IV usurps Henry and becomes king! He sends Warwick to negotiate a politically necessary marriage in France, only to choose to marry another woman for love. This, naturally, loses him the support of Warwick. Sounds like Robb Stark, doesn't it?

This play is filled with action and, like the previous, makes me want to watch a performance. It is a bit confusing. One character, Montague, changes sides with no mention of when or why. In one scene is is with Edward, then he's with Henry. Did Shakespeare forget whose side he was on? Or was this to sort of who how fluid alliances were and how confusing it was to keep track? Also, the change in names is frustrating. Richard becomes Gloucester, okay, I got it. I missed that George became Clarence so didn't realize at the first read that when Clarence changed to Edward's side this was actually his brother returning to him. Again, this is probably a good reminder these were stories to be watched, not just read.

Anyway, on to Richard III!

Dang, this story is really actually kind of wild. So, obviously, I know how the War of the Roses happened in reality, but even with the historical context, I still got all up in arms every time somebody would defect to one side, then back to the other, and when the ending came, even though I knew it was coming... it's like... no wait! The play is called Henry VI, he's not supposed to lose!

I think that's something I can say in general about all of Shakespeare's histories, now that I've read a fair number of them - they're not unbiased in terms of the message or theme, but the characters on all sides of the conflicts are getting really weighty screen-time, if you will, and there are very few characters or perspectives that seem out-and-out evil. Even knowing the way history would turn out, you start to hope that those dang Lancasters and Yorks can talk out their differences and all just get along - a patently ridiculous idea, of course, but the play makes you sympathize juuuust enough with people from both sides.

The writing is lush, the battles are kind of intense, Margaret has some of the best dialogue given to a woman in any Shakespeare play... this is a play I'd definitely like to see on stage some time. I can see why the Henry VI plays don't get talked about quite as much as some of the others, but for my money they are really powerful works.

Summary of the Henry IV: I wanna be the king. I wanna be the king too. I also wanna be the king. Now I'm the king. No, I'm the king. No, I said I'm the king. I keel you. I keel you. I keel you.

4.4/5 stars, full review to come! Mostly I’m a Queen Margaret stan, but the play was pretty good overall.


Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pacing: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5