Henry VI, Part 2

Henry VI, Part 2 shows the weak, pious Henry VI losing control of his court as his nobles destroy the loyal Duke of Gloucester, a popular rebellion led by Jack Cade sweeps London, and the Duke of York makes his move for the crown.

Main characters

• King Henry VI
• Queen Margaret
• Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Eleanor, his wife
• The Duke of Suffolk
• Richard, Duke of York
• Jack Cade, a rebel
• The Earl of Warwick

Plot summary

This summary gives away the ending.

Queen Margaret and her ally Suffolk, together with other ambitious nobles, bring down the Lord Protector Gloucester: first his wife is caught consulting a witch, then Gloucester himself is arrested and murdered. Suffolk is banished and killed by pirates. Richard, Duke of York, who believes he has a better claim to the throne than Henry, waits for his moment.

York stirs up Jack Cade, a clothier who claims noble blood, to lead a rebellion. Cade's followers occupy London, promising a world without money or literacy, before the revolt collapses and Cade is killed. York returns from Ireland with an army and openly claims the crown, and the play ends with York's victory at the first Battle of St Albans in 1455.

Themes

• Weak kingship
• Ambition and conspiracy
• Popular rebellion
• Law and disorder

Famous lines

The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

Dick the Butcher, Act 4 Scene 2

More in our collection of famous Shakespeare quotes.

Sources

Hall's and Holinshed's chronicles. A shorter version was printed in 1594 as The First Part of the Contention betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster.

On stage and screen

Jack Cade's scenes are some of Shakespeare's liveliest crowd comedy. Dick the Butcher's line about lawyers is often quoted as an attack on the legal profession, though in context it comes from a would-be tyrant's follower.

See where Henry VI, Part 2 sits in Shakespeare's career on the timeline, or read about the playhouses it was written for.