Second Part of King Henry VI (eBook)

Shakespeare's plays about the reign of Henry VI, written at the beginning of his career, were for a long time undervalued. This was because of doubts about their authorship and because of the difficulties of determining their theatrical provenance. However, a series of outstanding productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company and other companies has demonstrated their theatrical vitality, their conventions have been better understood in the light of new critical methods, and their innovative and sceptical questioning of Elizabethan orthodoxies has been viewed in the light of revisionist readings of the history of Shakespeare's own times. This 1991 edition of The Second Part of King Henry VI takes account of discoveries concerning Shakespeare's early career, and pays particular attention to recent theatrical history, relating readings generated by modern performances to ideologically positioned accounts of the history and politics of Shakespeare's age.

---

The New Cambridge Shakespeare appeals to students worldwide for its up-to-date scholarship and emphasis on performance. The series features line-by-line commentaries, textual notes on the plays and poems and an extensive Introduction. Shakespeare's plays about the reign of King Henry VI were written at the beginning of his career. A recent series of outstanding productions has demonstrated their theatrical vitality, and their sceptical questioning of Elizabethan orthodoxies has been understood through revisionist readings of the history of Shakespeare's own times. The Wars of the Roses haunted the Elizabethans. Among many accounts, Shakespeare's was the most ambitious, dramatically innovative and radical. The Second Part of King Henry VI is concerned with the nature of history, the role of conscience and the relation between law and equity. It contains a complex reading of a popular uprising, led by Jack Cade.