THE SECOND PART OF
HENRY THE SIXT,

WITH THE DEATH OF THE
GOOD DUKE HUMFREY

First printed in Quartos, 1594, 1600, 1619 The First Folio, 1623, gives a text widely differing from the Quartos

INTRODUCTION

Argument of the Play

HE SECOND PART OF HENRY THE

reign, begun in the First Part and concluded in the Third Part, and shows the actual beginning of the Wars of the Roses.

In Act I Margaret of Anjou is wedded to the king, but brings no dower. The Duke of Gloucester, the king's uncle and lord protector, is justly incensed that the English conquests should thus be suffered to lapse. But the other nobles unite with the new queen against him, and seize first upon his wife, who is accused of witchcraft.

In Act II the duchess is banished and the duke deprived of office. The strife between the rival houses

of York and Lancaster meantime increases.

Gloucester is falsely accused of high treason (Act III) and assassinated. Suffolk, the instigator of the deed, is banished, and killed at sea. The French territory has now totally passed from the weak Henry's hands, while at home the growing power of York becomes a menace. This duke is sent to quell an Irish insurrection, but finds time to incite one at home, under the leadership of Jack Cade.

Cade's rebellion (Act IV) is soon suppressed. York's hand has not appeared on the surface of the rebellion, but after it is ended he returns to England

with his army on the pretext of settling personal

wrongs.

His real intent, however, is the throne. a fact which becomes apparent in a defiant interview (Act V) held with the king near Blackheath. The two armies fight at St. Albans. The king's forces are defeated, and York, with his powerful ally, Warwick, resolves to march upon London.

SOURCES

The sources of the three parts of Henry VI' have been jointly considered in the Introduction to the First Part.

DURATION OF THE ACTION

The historic period lasts about ten years, from April 22, 1445, the accession of the queen, to May 23, 1455, the battle of St. Albans. The stage period is fourteen days, with various intervals.

DATE OF COMPOSITION

The reader is again referred to the Introduction to the First Part for inferences as to date. The date of the First Part was shown to be about 1590. Greene's allusion to the Third Part, in 1592, shows that the Second Part must have been written about 1591.

EARLY EDITIONS

The play first appeared in a Quarto of 1594, with a divergent text, and the title:

The First Part of the Contention betwixt the two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster, with the Death