York
Richard, the Duke of York, believes that he is
the true king of England. Since King Henry's grandfather seized the throne
illegally from Richard II, then the real legal heir should have been the
offspring of the younger brothers of Richard II. Richard is descended from
Richard II's eldest brother, whereas Henry VI is descended from Richard II's
younger brother. With this claim, York has brought dissention to the court,
arguing with other nobles in 1 Henry VI and staking his claim in 2
Henry VI. He agrees to let Henry rule during his lifetime and receive the
crown on Henry's death, but York's son urges him to seize the crown sooner.
York dies in battle in the first act.
King of England at the
beginning of the play, Henry is not a strong king; his nobles and his wife,
Margaret, take advantage of him. Unable to live up to the legacy of his
legendary father, Henry V, Henry loses all the English territories in France
and cannot seem to control his warring nobles. In this play, he is twice thrust
from the throne and twice imprisoned and once returned to place at the head of
state. He flees battles and flees to Scotland but is always captured and
brought back. Finally, he wishes to become a private citizen, desiring to be
king in name only while other men rule. But in the end he is killed in prison
by Richard.
York's eldest son, Edward inherits York's
struggle for the throne, and seizes it soon after his father is killed in
battle. But the new power soon blinds him to the need to listen to his advisors
and brothers, and he marries Lady Gray, thus, alienating Warwick and the king
of France, who had negotiated for a wedding to the French king's sister. Edward
falls from the throne and is imprisoned but freed by Richard and again becomes
king at the end of the play.
Edward's younger brother, George was in France
at the beginning of the play, returning with reinforcements after his father's
death. George joins his brothers' battles, until Edward marries Lady Gray.
George breaks with his brother and joins Warwick, though he rejoins his
brothers later and helps defeat Warwick. George receives the title of the Duke
of Clarence from his brother, and he is often referred to as
"Clarence" throughout the play and into Richard III. George is
Richard's next target at the end of the play.
A younger brother of Edward and George,
Richard is a fierce supporter of the Yorks' claim to the throne. Most noted for
his physical deformities, including a hump back, lame leg, and shriveled arm,
Richard takes his physical deformity as proof that he will not succeed with
women or in the world of the court. Therefore, he decides that the only thing
for him is to gain the throne. Yet there are many ahead of him in line to the
crown, who he must eliminate along the way, performing the role of a good
brother and subject while secretly behaving with bloodthirsty abandon. Killing
Henry, Richard declares himself severed from a world of family and brotherhood;
he stands alone in his quest for the crown. One of the most compelling
characters in Shakespeare's oeuvre, Richard has greater command of language
than most other characters, and he has the best speeches. Richard's deformities
raise many questions; does he use his deformity as an excuse for his behavior,
or is his body an outward manifestation of his ambition and his evil nature?
Long one of York's allies, Warwick was a
pivotal force in bringing Edward to the throne. Later, he is sent to France to
negotiate for marriage between Edward and Lady Bona, sister of the king of
France. When Edward marries someone else, Warwick feels slighted and switches
his allegiance to Henry, joining Margaret's army. Eventually, he is killed in
battle with Edward's forces.
Henry's French wife, Margaret
was wooed in I Henry VI by Suffolk, who later became her lover. Alarmed
that her husband is such a weak man, Margaret begins taking over for him. She
scolds him for having given in to York's pressure in agreeing to pass the
throne to York after his death. Then, she raises an army to fight with York;
later, she stabs York to death. When Edward comes to the throne, Margaret goes
to France to ask for aid and returns to lead more battles. Margaret is cursed
repeatedly by her enemies for being an unnatural woman, in having taken on such
a masculine role to lead Henry's armies. Yet she is the strongest inspirational
force among all Henry's supporters.
Son of Margaret and Henry, Prince Edward
delights Henry's supporters in his show of strength and courage; they hope he
is another Henry V. Yet finally he is captured in battle and killed by York's
sons.
York's youngest son, killed by
Clifford. Margaret dips a handkerchief in his blood to taunt York with after
she captures him.
Clifford's father was killed by York at the
end of 2 Henry VI, so Clifford begins this play with blood lust. He
kills York's young son Rutland, then York himself. He and Richard become
enemies, and Richard tries to kill him on the battlefield, but Clifford dies
from an arrow wound before Richard can find him.
One of Warwick's relatives,
Montague supports York, then Edward. At a certain moment, probably after Edward
marries Lady Gray, Montague appears on Henry's side and later is killed in
battle alongside Warwick.
One of Henry's supporters
One of Henry's supporters
One of Henry's supporters
One of Edward's supporters, he joins George in
going over to Warwick's side after Edward marries Lady Gray.
One of Henry's supporters
Sister of the king of France,
Louis, Edward proposes marriage to Lady Bona through the ambassadorship of
Warwick, and she agrees. But when word arrives that Edward has married Lady
Gray, Lady Bona asks her brother to lend support to those who would topple
Edward.
Lady Gray comes to Edward to
ask him to restore her lands to her, as they were taken when her husband died.
He proposes that she become his lover but she refuses. Then, he asks her to
marry him, and she agrees, becoming the queen.
King of France, Louis lends support
to Margaret when Edward insults his sister Lady Bona by marrying Lady Gray
instead.
One of Henry's supporters.
One of Edward's supporters, brother of Lady
Gray.
One of Edward's supporters.
One of Edward's supporters.
The young Henry, Earl of Richmond, meets Henry
when he is first freed from prison by his supporters. Henry prophecies big
things for Richmond; in fact, Richmond is the future Henry VII, and he will
help found the house of Tutor and end the War of the Roses when he defeats
Richard in Richard III.
Henry watches from the field
as various soldiers bring bodies from the field, one discovering he has
accidentally killed his own son, and another his father. The soldiers suffer
the unnaturalness of the War of the Roses, a war between extended family, which
has enveloped the nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment