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Summary
In the palace in London, Gloucester informs King Henry that the pope urges the negotiation of peace between England and France. Henry asks Gloucester what he thinks, and he suggests it may be the only way to stop the bloodshed. Gloucester then introduces a new opportunity for alliance with the French: the earl of Armagnac, a close relative of Charles, has offered his daughter in marriage, along with a substantial dowry. Henry is reluctant due to his young age, but he agrees. Winchester enters, in the garb of a cardinal, with several messengers from the pope. The king tells the papal messengers he has decided that peace with France is a good idea, and he means to pursue it immediately. Gloucester tells the messengers that the king has also agreed to a marriage with the earl of Armagnac’s daughter. After the rest of the court departs, Winchester pays one of the messengers the money he owes for having been made a cardinal. In an aside, he declares that he’ll no longer have to submit to anyone, and especially not to Gloucester.
Charles and his nobles discuss news that Parisians are revolting against the English, and Alençon urges Charles to take his men swiftly to the capital. Just then, a messenger arrives to announce that the two segments of the English army have merged and are preparing to attack the French troops. Joan urges Charles to lead the battle, and she declares he will win.
It is now the middle of the battle, and Joan, alone onstage, realizes York is winning. She calls on the spirits that give her signs of coming events. They arrive, and she asks them to help her win the fight for France. But the fiends refuse to speak. She offers them blood sacrifice and even her soul, but the demons show no interest in her offerings and depart. Joan, forsaken by the source of her former powers, declares that France will now surely fall to the English.
Burgundy and York fight in hand-to-hand combat offstage. The French flee, and York seizes Joan. Grabbing hold of her, he tauntingly asks her if her demons can help her now. He calls her an enchantress and a witch, and he takes her away.
Meanwhile, Suffolk has taken his own prisoner: the lovely young Margaret. She is the daughter of a man named René, who is both the duke of Anjou and the king of Naples. Suffolk feels a strong sexual attraction to Margaret, which he attempts to conceal from her by speaking mostly in asides. Muttering to himself, he acknowledges that he cannot have her for himself, since he is already married. He instead decides to woo her on Henry’s behalf, since he thinks the king is too young to say no. Besides, even though she will inherit no money, she is the daughter of a king and hence technically a legitimate match. Margaret agrees to marry the king, and when her father soon shows up, he gives his blessing as well.
Analysis
The opening scenes of act 5 stage new turning points in the war between England and France. We first learn about peace talks initiated by the pope, which Gloucester wisely counsels the king to entertain. We also learn about a politically strategic marriage proposal with the earl of Armagnac, which would help end the war and enable Henry to maintain ties with France. Though his young age makes him reluctant to consider marriage, Henry recognizes that his duty should be to establish peace, and he agrees. Once again, we see the young king striving to do what’s best for his kingdom. And again, his attempt seems immediately to be complicated by the petty scheming of the men around him.
In this case, we find a newly promoted Winchester wearing the garb of a cardinal. This is indeed a major promotion. As a bishop, he was a local head of the Church. As a cardinal, however, he now presides over several bishoprics and participates more directly with the pope himself. In other words, he now has much more power. But at the same time, we learn that, rather than earning his promotion, he has paid for it. Aside from the obvious corruption involved, it is now plainly clear that Winchester is an impious clergyman whose hunger for power has blinded him to his own hypocrisy. We still don’t know whether his quarrel with Gloucester goes any deeper than basic envy, but at this point the origin of the quarrel seems immaterial: the only goal seems to be to overpower his enemy. With Winchester’s malevolence on such clear display, it seems inevitable that the audience will take Gloucester’s side. After all, he seems earnestly involved in the attempt to establish peace. Winchester, meanwhile, does little more than disturb the peace.
Meanwhile, in France, Suffolk’s capture of Margaret of Anjou introduces a further danger to the peace plans established in act 5’s opening scene. Driven by his own lust, but unable to claim the beautiful young woman for himself, Suffolk schemes to woo her on the young king’s behalf. Audiences who are already familiar with the second and third parts of the Henry VI sequence (written and produced before the existence of Henry VI, Part 1) will already know that Margaret turns out to be a major—and majorly troublesome—figure in Henry’s life. Thus, her arrival on the scene is ominous, and perhaps more so because of her seeming innocence. Yet even for those not keyed into the influence of this historical figure, Suffolk’s scheme seems an ill omen. Whereas the daughter of the earl of Armagnac promises to bring both wealth and peace, Margaret seems unlikely to bring either. Yet her beauty is, apparently, irresistible. Will the king, like Suffolk, succumb to personal desire over political pragmatism? Time will tell.
After Talbot’s downfall, his rival, Joan, doesn’t last long. It’s noteworthy that in this “history” play Shakespeare should depict Joan as a true conjurer of demons. All along the English have accused her of witchcraft, but until now this claim has seemed to function primarily as an insult. Here, however, we see her not only conjuring real “fiends” (as the stage directions call them), but she is also growing increasingly desperate for their help. She knows that she is nothing without them, and in her desire to retain her sense of power she starts offering more and more extreme sacrifices—first of blood and bodily appendages, and finally of her very soul. In addition to being the witch the English have claimed her to be, Joan also turns out to be just as desperate for personal gain as many of the other characters in the play. Her downfall is clearly an important military win for the English, but perhaps more importantly, it underscores that her power never belonged to her alone. Several men in the play have remarked scornfully on her masculine abilities, and this moment demonstrates that, beneath the bravado, she is “just” a woman.
