Shakespeare2020: King Henry Vi, part ii

If part i of King Henry VI was all about armies of men moving and being defeated, then part ii is when the nobles start to die. And die they do. It reminded me of a low-budget Tarantino-esque production at times, simply because, to announce every death, they keep showing off the heads of slain nobles. We won't get to see blood gushing from the stage in these productions, but we still get grisly sights--Queen Margaret almost making out with a dismembered head is pretty wild.

The quick summary--Queen Margaret marries Henry and plots against him with her lover, Suffolk. York begins to assert his power in different ways: inciting Jack Cade to lead a rebellion, then leading a rebellion himself. But, don't worry, Henry knows that he's a terrible ruler. In Act VI, scene ix he says, "Come, wife, let's in, and learn to govern better; For yet may England curse my wretched reign." You have to appreciate that at least he knows he's a terrible ruler. It ends in the aftermath of the Battle of St. Albans with Henry and Margaret running away, and York planning to follow Henry to London so he can fully gain the crown.

The things that stuck out to me:
1. In Act I we have a conjuring scene, but it's almost wholly a Ouija board type of event. They aren't asking for any spirit-interference, just predictions, but punishments rain down on their heads. In Macbeth, Shakespeare will go much more deeply into whether the Weird Sisters have power and what role predictions have, but this simplistic execution of conjuring acts as solely a decent plot device.

2. Oh, the Yorks! I love me some Yorks! Yes, York peppermint patties, of course, but also I'm totally Team White Rose. (That's another post for another day.) Now, in King Henry VI, part ii, we get to see Richard (later King Richard III) onstage at the end [being belittled by Clifford...grrr...as a"heap of wrath, foul indigested lump, as crooked in thy manners as thy shape" (V.i, 157-158)]. But the main focus is on the Duke of York (Richard's father). The Duke of York shows us where Richard gets his wonderful ability to connect to the audience through asides and descriptive monologues. One of my favorite lines ever is this gem from York: "My brain, more busy than a labouring spider, Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies" (III.i.340-341). Gorgeous, gorgeous! His history lesson in Act II is marvelous and necessary, especially if you're watching the tetralogy all at once and you need a refresher in the middle.

3. "Game of Thrones" unabashedly stole Cersei's walk of shame from the Duchess of Gloucester's Act II walk. Shakespeare would be proud.

4. Suffolk gets off too easy; Queen Margaret is such a skank. Jack Cade's rebellion reflects the loss of poetry/intellect/beauty if regular citizens ever would gain control. Henry can't read people, can't understand politics, and shouldn't rule.

5. One last thing--Walter and Water. It's so deliciously Britishly brilliant. Suffolk heard that he was to die by "water" but, when he's about to be killed by a dude named "Walter," he totally realizes his mistake. If you're a midwestern American like me, you start to realize that Shakespeare wrote Act VI, scene i just for YOU. Because, when reading it, you have to sound it out, elongate the vowels, subsume the "ell," and genuinely grovel in the artistry of British wordplay for a bit. Of course, it also predicts how misunderstanding prophecies can go quite wrong (*cough* *cough* *Macbeth**cough*).

It's quite a cliffhanger at the end, so I'm happily moving right on to part iii.