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Margaret is called unnatural because her assertiveness marks her as more “masculine” than “feminine.” As Henry becomes weaker and more withdrawn, she takes on more of his responsibilities, eventually taking command of his troops and leading them into battle while banishing from the action. Significantly, the militant Margaret is not the only “unnatural” woman in the Henry VI plays. In Henry VI, Part 1, for instance, we met Joan la Pucelle (our “Joan of Arc”), who, like Margaret, led troops in support of a king. In Henry VI, Part 2, Margaret faced down Gloucester’s wife, the Duchess, who engaged the services of occultists as she schemed to become England’s next queen. Whereas in the previous play Margaret’s motivations were selfish, in Part 3 her focus centers on her son. In fact, it is Henry’s agreement to entail the Crown to York that first enrages Margaret, since the entailment effectively disinherits her son. To ensure his succession, she shows a willingness to plunge herself into battle, only to lose the fight and watch her son be murdered before her eyes. But Margaret’s role is not yet complete. Her survival is ensured by a ransom from her father, and she will return yet again in Richard III.
Edward’s marriage to Lady Grey is problematic for several reasons. First, Edward had already dispatched Warwick to France to broker a marriage arrangement with the French king’s daughter. Edward’s decision to marry Lady Grey therefore undermines Warwick’s ambassadorial mission, humiliating King Louis and possible endangering Warwick. Second, Edward’s decision to marry Lady Grey strongly echoes Henry’s earlier decision to marry Margaret. Despite already having a more politically advantageous engagement that would have brought wealth to England and peace with France, Henry chose to marry a woman with no money or connections. Edward makes a similar mistake. A marriage with King Louis’s daughter would ensure peaceful relations with France and replenish England’s coffers. By contrast, marriage to an Englishwoman offers no political advantage and furnishes the king with no additional wealth. Just as Henry’s marriage helped plunge the kingdom into civil strife, so too does Edward’s marriage create new divisions that lead to unnecessary bloodshed.
Richard is the only character who speaks in soliloquies, where he turns away from the action and confides directly with the audience. These speeches are among the most sharp-witted and engaging in the entire play, creating an effect of psychological roundedness that today we associated with modern individualism. Shakespeare uses these soliloquies as a method for conveying Richard’s thoughts directly to the viewer. Importantly, we don’t hear Richard simply report his thoughts and plans in the way that York did in the soliloquies he delivered in Henry VI, Part 2. Rather, we hear Richard thinking out loud in real time, considering his options and weighing them against each other. In this way, we learn that his political aspirations aren’t simply a matter of personal ambition. They are also entangled with his physical disabilities, which has led others to cast him as a monstrous figure. The alienation this treatment has caused seems to lead Richard to deny the importance of all familial and social ties, renouncing both father and brothers to declare himself a man alone. Having claimed this separateness, Richard is able to use language in purely manipulative ways, deceiving others into believing his loyalty is real.
