King Henry VI Part 1

by William Shakespeare

Paperback

Published May 1, 2000

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Gavin Lahmon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Concluding my reading of all three parts of Henry VI on a significantly weaker note. While not as formally all over the place as Part 2 (a quality I somewhat enjoyed), this part feels so stuck up in plot for a majority of the scenes. Some fine speeches are interspersed throughout but most of it trucks along through thin politics in the plainest way possible.

With all of the parts of Henry VI there are some stand out scenes but I especially loved the Talbot sequence in the latter half of Act 4. The push and pull of the couplets was super engaging and possessed a smattering of thematic richness that felt lacking from the rest of the play. Kind of hated Joan of Arc’s portrayal here. She is shown as so shallowly evil and conniving with little character depth other than to move the plot along.

I still had a great time reading this play, along with the rest of the parts. Excited to return to Richard III to finish the War of the Roses tetralogy!

Favorite Line: “And in that ease I’ll tell thee my disease” (Plantagenet, 2.5, 44).

[clari · Rating 3 out of 5]

aunque sé que es la primera parte de tres, siento que se puede sostener sola como obra. para ser el primer trabajo de William es más complejo de lo que deja aparentar, y te deja ver que hay un hilado fino que lentamente como lectora (y actriz) empiezas a desarmar.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't help it - I love all three of these plays. The characters are bigger than life, there is war, arguments, great speeches, Joan of Arc and Margaret of Anjou - what fun!