I have made it through all three parts of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, and I would like to formally report that Part 3 is, by a considerable margin, my favorite.
Which is not exactly saying much when the competition includes approximately 47 people making catastrophically bad decisions while standing in a room together.
But King Henry VI, Part 3 is actually fun.
Well. “Fun” in the Shakespearean sense, meaning everyone is miserable, England is on fire, and approximately every man with a title is either betraying someone or considering it.
And honestly? I was entertained.
Henry: Please Stop Giving Away Your Kingdom
The big problem for Henry is that he is still Henry. He is gentle. He is religious. He is indecisive. He would really like everyone to stop fighting and maybe sit down for a nice cup of tea.
Unfortunately, he is also the king.
At one point, Henry casually agrees to give up his claim to the throne in exchange for being allowed to live out his life as king while his competitor’s son Edward inherits later.
I am sorry.
WHAT.
You are the king.
You have a kingdom.
You have a son.
And your solution to a civil war is basically, “Okay, you guys can have England now, but can I keep the chair until I die?”
How could this possibly go badly?
Oh, right.
It went extremely badly.
Margaret Has Had Enough of This Shit
And this is where Margaret goes into absolute boss mode.
I have spent two and a half plays watching people make terrible decisions, and suddenly Margaret arrives like, “Oh, for fuck’s sake. I guess I have to handle everything.”
She is furious that Henry has essentially negotiated away their son’s inheritance, and honestly, I cannot blame her.
Margaret is one of the most fascinating people in these plays because she is ruthless, politically aggressive, and apparently the only person in Henry’s immediate circle who understands that a throne is not something you casually put on Craigslist.
She fights for her son.
She fights for the crown.
She fights because everyone else seems determined to lose.
And while I am not suggesting that Margaret is necessarily the good guy here, she is certainly one of the few people who appears to have read the job description.
Clarence: The Human Revolving Door
Then we have the Duke of Clarence.
Oh, Clarence.
Clarence switches sides like a record changer. It happens so frequently that I am honestly surprised Shakespeare didn’t give him a little revolving door.
He starts with the Yorkists, then starts having doubts, then moves toward the Lancastrians, then realizes he has made a mistake, then switches back again.
And somehow…
PEOPLE KEEP TRUSTING HIM.
WHY?!
At this point, if Clarence walked into my house and said, “Kristen, I have changed my mind about which side I’m on,” I would immediately hide the silverware.
But the Yorkists are basically like, “Sure, George. Welcome back!”
Sir.
This man has demonstrated approximately zero ideological stability.
And yet everyone continues to treat him like a reliable political asset.
Which, frankly, makes everyone else look even dumber.
Finally, Some Momentum
And that is part of what makes Part 3 so much more enjoyable than the first two plays.
The story finally feels like it has some momentum.
There are battles. Betrayals. Executions. Secret schemes. People changing sides. People regretting changing sides. People killing people who changed sides.
It is basically Shakespeare’s version of a group project where everyone has access to weapons.
And then there is Richard.
Oh, Richard.
Richard Is Going to Be a Problem
If Henry VI, Part 3 has one person who clearly understands what game everyone is playing, it is Richard of Gloucester.
He is horrifying, ambitious, calculating, and absolutely delightful to watch.
Because while everyone else is running around going, “Oh no! Who should be king?!”
Richard is standing in the corner thinking:
Why not me?
And THAT is where the whole thing starts to become genuinely interesting.
We are watching the beginning of the road toward Richard III, and suddenly all the chaos of the earlier plays starts to feel like it is building toward something.
Henry, Buddy, I Have Some Questions
That said, I still have questions about Henry.
Mostly:
WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?
Henry is not necessarily a terrible human being. In fact, that is part of the problem. He seems fundamentally unsuited to being king. He wants peace when everyone around him wants power.
And I appreciate the sentiment.
But unfortunately, “Please stop fighting” is not generally considered a robust strategy for managing a medieval civil war.
His tragedy is that he seems to understand the human cost of the conflict better than almost anyone else, but he cannot figure out how to actually stop it.
And by the time he does try to assert himself, the machine is already completely out of control.
Everyone Has a Plan and Every Plan Is Terrible
There is also something wonderfully ridiculous about the sheer number of people who think they can control the political situation.
Everyone has a plan.
Every plan immediately catches fire.
Someone switches sides.
Someone gets murdered.
Someone declares themselves king.
Someone else says, “Actually, I’m king.”
And then everyone goes to war again.
It’s exhausting.
But it’s entertaining.
And unlike Part 1 and Part 2, I never felt like I was waiting for the play to become interesting. Part 3 grabs hold of the chaos and runs with it.
Final Verdict: Give Me More Bloodshed
So, final ranking of the Henry VI trilogy?
Part 3 wins.
By a mile.
It has Margaret in full terrifying-mother mode, Clarence changing teams like he’s trying to beat a world record, Henry casually surrendering his kingdom and then apparently being surprised that this causes problems, and Richard beginning his transformation into the magnificent little monster we know is coming.
It is bloody, ridiculous, politically disastrous, and somehow the most fun installment of the whole trilogy.
Shakespeare has finally stopped politely knocking on the door of the Wars of the Roses and kicked the damn thing in.
4/5 crowns.
Would I recommend it?
Yes.
Would I recommend reading it immediately after the first two?
Also yes, because you have already suffered this much.
You might as well get to the good part.
