payment page
Summary
Richard Plantagenet, the duke of York, enters the Parliament House in London with his two sons, Edward and Richard, followed by Norfolk, Montague, and Warwick. The lords wonder where the king has fled, and they discuss their successes in prior battles with the king’s followers. Warwick points out that they stand before the throne, and he urges York to take the royal seat. York takes in the throne, resolved to seize the kingdom once and for all.
Just then, King Henry enters with Clifford, Westmorland, Northumberland, Exeter, and other lords. Seeing York on the throne, Henry reminds his followers that York, who has killed the fathers of Clifford and Northumberland, wants to seize the Crown. The lords want to attack York where he sits, but Henry notes that York’s troops stand at the ready. He would rather fight with words and threats than bring violent chaos to Parliament.
Henry asks York what claim he has to the throne. York’s father was merely an earl, says Henry, whereas his own father was King Henry V. York reminds Henry that he lost the French lands that Henry V had conquered, but Henry rejects the accusation, saying the Lord Protector was in charge at the time. York then declares that Henry’s grandfather, Henry IV, unlawfully usurped the Crown. In an aside, Henry acknowledges that his claim to the throne is flimsy. Exeter also believes York and sides with him. Henry worries that all his supporters will abandon him.
Clifford, meanwhile, vows to fight on Henry’s behalf, regardless of whether he is the true heir. Warwick announces that Henry must do right by York’s claim, or he will send his soldiers into Parliament. Henry asks York to let him continue to reign while he lives, and he will entail the Crown to York and his heirs. York agrees, but Clifford is appalled that Henry would disinherit his son. Disenchanted, Henry’s lords depart to report to the queen. Henry reluctantly announces the terms for the entailment of the Crow. York promises to honor Henry as king and not revolt against him, and the throne shall pass to the house of York upon Henry’s death. York descends from the throne and embraces the king before departing with his men.
Henry and Exeter are joined by Margaret and Prince Edward. Margaret upbraids Henry, who insists that York and Warwick forced him into the agreement. Appalled by his passivity, she says he’s endangered himself by striking a deal with these wolves, who now encircle him like a trembling lamb; he is wrong to think they will let him rule unharmed. If she had been there, she would never have let Henry make such a deal. Thus, she will separate herself from Henry until he undoes his agreement to disinherit their son. Margaret prepares to leave, while Henry asks his son if he will stay. Prince Edward says he will return only when they have had victory on the battlefield, and they leave.
Analysis
The struggle for the throne that plays out in this opening scene has a long backstory that Shakespeare unfolds in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2. As if to remind his audience of the key points of the dispute, Shakespeare summarizes them in the debate between York and Henry about who has the stronger claim to the throne. In short, York believes that he is the rightful heir because Richard II was forcibly removed from the throne by Henry IV, so all rulers thereafter have been illegitimate. York’s lineage stems from the eldest surviving brother of Richard II, who should have been the heir when Richard II died childless. Henry, on the other hand, is both the grandchild of the usurper and a relative of a younger brother of Richard II, making his claim to the throne entirely spurious in York’s eyes. Henry initially defends his claim, noting that Henry V’s achievements in France prove the validity of his reign. However, between the loss of England’s French territories and the charge that his grandfather usurped the throne, Henry recognizes the weakness of his position.
With no option ready to hand other than violence, Henry resorts to barter: in exchange for remaining king, he’ll entail the Crown to the house of York upon his death. For his supporters, this decision to relinquish the throne and disinherit his son represents yet another bad decision on the king’s part. The first of his bad decisions took place at the end of Part 1, where he agreed to marry Margaret of Anjou, who brought no dowry and whose engagement obliged the king to give up most of the region of Normandy. In Part 2, this loss of territory caused many rifts among the nobility as well as between the commoners and the ruling class. Now Henry seems to be giving the entire kingdom away, a decision that his lords and his wife both view as a sign of his perennial weakness and political ineptitude. Margaret openly chastises her husband for these faults when she confronts him at the end of the opening scene. Not only does he allow himself to be pushed around, but he also endangers himself by making precarious agreements with his enemies.
Margaret’s chiding of Henry strongly implies that he is not fit to be king—a charge that his lords seem generally to agree with. Exeter is the first to voice his agreement with York’s claim to the throne, signaling a turn away from the current king. Other lords retain their affiliation with Henry, though they are disgusted by the ease with which he has forfeited his son’s future. These events lead the king to make his first prophecy in the play: “All will revolt from me and turn to him” (1.1.152). And indeed, much of the action that follows will involve lords changing sides, weakening the king until his death in the Tower, friendless and alone. In this scene, however, the most damning loss he suffers is that of his fearsome and politically canny wife. The Henry VI plays are filled with strong women characters who pose a threat to the king, and in this play, Margaret takes on a new level of danger. Effectively laying claim to her husband’s army, she will do what the passive king cannot: defend the Crown.
