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.”