Henry VI, of the House of Lancaster, became King of England as an infant on Sept. 1, 1422, after the death of his father, King Henry V. Henry VI reigned from 1422 to 1461 and from 1470 to 1471. After serving merely as a figurehead in his boyhood and adolescence, Henry began to rule on his own in 1437, at age 16. After he married Margaret of Anjou in April 1445, ambitious nobles–and his own wife–began plotting against him for their own selfish ends. Henry VI Part III continues the story begun in Henry VI Part I (which ended with the marriage of Henry to Margaret) and Henry VI Part II (which ended with Richard Plantagenet claiming the crown).
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Ah, wretched man! would I had died a maid 
And never seen thee, never borne thee son, 
Seeing thou hast prov’d so unnatural a father 
Hath he deserv’d to lose his birthright thus? (1. 1. 223-226)

.......Meanwhile, York’s sons, Edward and Richard, importune their father to take back the throne that he yielded. Edward says: “Now you are heir, therefore enjoy it now: / By giving the house of Lancaster leave to breathe” (1. 2. 15-16). When York says he is bound on oath to the agreement with Henry, Richard argues that an oath not taken before a “true and lawful magistrate” (1. 2. 26) is not binding. He also says: “How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown, / Within whose circuit is Elysium” (1. 2. 32-33). York then agrees to seize the throne immediately “or die” (1. 2. 38). 

Henry VI Part III is set in various locales in England and France, including the following: (1) London, England: Parliament House, the royal palace, the Tower; (2) Wakefield, England: Sandal Castle and a battlefield; (3) Herefordshire: a plain near Mortimer's Cross; (4) York; (5) Yorkshire: battlefield between Towton and Saxton, a park near Middleham Castle; (6) northern England: a forest; (7) France: the palace of King Lewis XI; (8) a plain in Warwickshire; (9) Warwick: Edward's camp; (10) West Midlands: Coventry; (11) Barnet: battlefield; and (12) Tewksbury: a plain.

Key Dates and Sources

Date Written: Between 1590 and 1592 
Probable Main Sources: The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (Holinshed's Chronicles), by Raphael Holinshed (died about 1580); Edward Hall's chronicle of The Union of the two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and York

Type of Play

Henry VI Part III is a history play about the struggle for power during the reign of a young English king. 
Number of Words in Complete Public-Domain Text: 26,195
 

Themes

The struggle for power divides a kingdom. The House of Lancaster, to which Henry VI belongs, and the House of York vie for power. The Yorkists believe they were cheated out of the throne in 1399, when Henry Bolingbroke became king as Henry IV. Within the House of Lancaster, there is also division. The Duke of Suffolk conspires with the queen to oust Henry’s protector so that they can exert more control over the young king. 
Ambition preys on the weak. Self-seekers, including Henry’s own wife, attempt to manipulate the king in order to further their own ends. 
Weak leaders invite upheaval. Henry VI is an upright but weak king who is easily manipulated. His failure to assert his authority is in part responsible for the discord during his reign.
Power is an irresistible elixir. Henry VI persuades Richard Plantagenet to delay his ascendancy to the throne until after Henry has completed his reign. However, Plantagenet’s son Richard urges his father to seize the throne immediately, saying, “How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown, / Within whose circuit is Elysium” (1. 2. 32-33). 
Women can be just as ruthless as men. Queen Margaret, who envies anyone who stands in her way of achieving power, presides at the torture and death of York’s son. Then she crowns York, taken prisoner, with a paper diadem and says, “Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king!” (1. 4. 99). Lord Clifford, a supporter of Margaret and the Lancasters, stabs York. Margaret stabs him again for good measure. After York dies, Margaret orders him decapitated.

Climax

The climax of a play or another literary work, such as a short story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most exciting event in a series of events. The climax of Henry VI Part III occurs, according to the first definition, when Edward reclaims the throne. According to the second definition, the climax occurs when Gloucester stabs Henry in the Tower of London. 

Henry VI: Saintly Scholar

Shakespeare depicts Henry VI as weak and ineffectual, as he was in real life. However, the historical Henry did possess some praiseworthy qualities, notably his piety as a devout Catholic and his love of learning and education. He exhibited the latter quality when he established Eton College in 1440 as the King's College of Our Lady of Eton Beside Windsor, providing scholarships for deserving boys who enrolled. Henry also founded Cambridge University's King's College to enable Eton boys to continue their education. Both Eton and King's College continue operation today as two of England's most respected educational institutions. As for Henry's famous saintliness, Edward Hall, a historian who graduated from Eton and King's College, described it in a history that Shakespeare used as one of his sources for the play. Hall (also spelled Halle) wrote:

He did abhor of his own nature, all the vices, as well of the body as of the soul; and from his very infancy he was of honest conversation and pure integrity; no knower of evil, and a keeper of all goodness; a despiser of all things which were wont to cause the minds of mortal men to slide or appair. Besides this, patience was so radicate in his heart that of all the injuries to him committed (which were no small number) he never asked vengeance nor punishment, but for that rendered to Almighty God, his Creator, hearty thanks, thinking that by this trouble and adversity his sins were to him forgotten and forgiven (qtd. in G.B. Harrison, ed. Shakespeare: The Complete Works. New York: Harcourt, 1952, Page 143).

The play opens at the House of Parliament in London with a bit of black humor that foreshadows the ruthless, bloodstained machinations of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as he murders his way to the throne in another Shakespeare history play, Richard III. First, Edward, Prince of Wales, tells his father–Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York–that he either killed or severely wounded the Duke of Buckingham. As proof, Edward shows his father his bloody sword. Not to be outdone, Montague then displays his sword, stained with the blood of the Earl of Wiltshire. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, then ends the game of one-upmanship by throwing down the head of the Duke of Somerset. Plantagenet then says, “Richard hath best deserv’d of all my sons” (1. 1. 19).

Extraordinary Ironies

Henry VI, though a good man, was one of England's weakest rulers. Ironically, his father, the warrior king Henry V, was one of England's strongest and most beloved monarchs. Henry VI may have inherited his father's throne, but not his genes. Perhaps even more ironic, though, is that Henry VI was king of England for approximately 40 years, a term of office far longer than all but a few English monarchs.

War of the Roses

Henry Bolingbroke's ascendancy to the English throne as Henry IV was the germinal event that triggered the War of the Roses (1455-1485) between the House of Lancaster–founded by Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt–and the House of York. For additional information on the War of the Roses, click here.

Lineage of the Houses of Lancaster and York

House of Lancaster: Henry IV ("Bolingbroke," son of the Duke of Lancaster), 1399-1413. Age at death: 47. Henry V (son of Henry IV), 1413-1422. Age at death: 34. Henry VI (son of Henry V, deposed), 1422-1471. Age at death: 49. 
House of York: Edward IV (son of duke of York), 1461-1483. Age at death: 41. Edward V (son of Edward IV), 1483. Age at death: 13. Richard III ("Crookback," brother of Edward IV) 1483-1485. Age at death: 35.

Study Questions and Essay Topics

1. Which is the most admirable character in the play? Which is the least admirable?
2. Write an essay that uses Henry VI Part III to demonstrate how ruthless politicians maneuver to get their way.
3. Write a psychological profile of King Henry VI or his wife, Margaret.
4. Do King Henry’s loyalists support him because they like him or because they believe he is the rightful king?
5. In monarchies, rulership passes to a son or daughter of the king and queen. Is a monarchy a flawed system of government? Or does it ....have its merits?
6. Does Richard Plantagenet have a legitimate claim on the throne?
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