Henry VI, Part II · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Henry VI, Part II by William Shakespeare.

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Chapter 1
Act I
Henry VI, Part II — Stage Lens: dramatic beats, line helps that follow your scroll, and stage picture. Read to understand, not to collect a closed thesis.
Chapter 2
Scene I
King Henry VI welcomes his new queen, Margaret, whom Suffolk has married by proxy in France. The terms of the peace treaty reveal that the duchies of Anjou and Maine have been given to the French king without dowry, sparking outrage among the nobles. Gloucester protests the losses, while the Cardinal, Suffolk, Buckingham, and Somerset plot against him. York, in a soliloquy, reveals his ambition to claim the crown, using the discontent to his advantage.
Chapter 3
Scene II
Duke Humphrey of Gloucester is troubled by a dream in which his staff of office is broken and the heads of Somerset and Suffolk are placed upon it. His wife Eleanor reveals her own ambitious dream of being crowned queen. Gloucester rebukes her ambition. A messenger summons them to a royal hunt at Saint Albans. Eleanor, left alone, resolves to pursue her ambitions and conspires with Hume, who secretly plots with Cardinal Beaufort and Suffolk to entrap her.
Chapter 4
Scene III
At court, Queen Margaret and Suffolk conspire to undermine Duke Humphrey of Gloucester. Petitioners mistake Suffolk for Gloucester, revealing grievances. Margaret confronts the Duchess of Gloucester, striking her. The king arbitrates a dispute between York and Somerset over the French regency, while an armorer's apprentice accuses his master of treason for claiming York is the rightful heir. Gloucester orders a trial by combat.
Chapter 5
Scene IV
In Gloucester's garden, the Duchess Eleanor conspires with the witch Margery Jourdain, the priest John Hume, and the conjurers Southwell and Bolingbroke to summon a spirit and learn the fates of King Henry, the Duke of Suffolk, and the Duke of Somerset. The spirit delivers cryptic prophecies: Henry will be deposed by a duke who will die violently, Suffolk will die by water, and Somerset should avoid castles. The Duke of York and the Duke of Buckingham, having spied on the ritual, burst in and arrest the conspirators and the Duchess. York reads the prophecies and decides to send the news to the king, who is traveling to Saint Alban's with Gloucester, while inviting Salisbury and Warwick to supper.

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Act I

Scene I

Scene II

Scene III

Scene IV