Henry VI, Part 1

For example, in the opening scene, as word arrives in England of the rebellion in France, Exeter says to his fellow peers, "Remember, Lords, your oaths to Henry sworn:/Either to quell the Dauphin utterly,/Or bring him in obedience to your yoke" (1.1.162–164).

For example, critics such as E. M. W. Tillyard,[25] Irving Ribner[26] and A. P. Rossiter[27] have all claimed that the play violates neoclassical precepts of drama, which dictate that violence and battle should never be shown mimetically on stage, but should always be reported diegetically in dialogue.

"[29] Similarly, in An Apology for Actors (1612), Heywood writes, "So bewitching a thing is lively and well-spirited action, that it hath power to new mould the hearts of the spectators, and fashion them to the shape of any noble and notable attempt.

"[30] More recently, Michael Goldman has argued that battle scenes are vital to the overall movement and purpose of the play; "the sweep of athletic bodies across the stage is used not only to provide an exciting spectacle but to focus and clarify, to render dramatic, the entire unwieldy chronicle.

Speaking during a 1952 radio presentation of The Contention and True Tragedy, which he produced, Dover Wilson argued that he had not included 1 Henry VI because it is a "patchwork in which Shakespeare collaborated with inferior dramatists.

The persuasive power of language is first alluded to by Charles, who tells Joan after she has assured him she can end the siege of Orléans, "Thou hast astonished me with thy high terms" (1.2.93).

Later in the play, the persuasive power of language becomes important for Joan, as she uses it as a subterfuge to sneak into Rouen, telling her men, "Be wary how you place your words;/Talk like the vulgar sort of market men/That come to gather money for their corn" (3.2.3.5).

[d] Other examples of words employed aggressively are seen when the English reclaim Orléans, and a soldier chases the half-dressed French leaders from the city, declaring "The cry of 'Talbot' serves me for a sword,/For I have loaden me with many spoils,/Using no other weapon but his name" (2.1.81–83).

For example, shortly after Charles has accepted Joan as his new commander, Alençon calls into question her sincerity, thus suggesting a possible discrepancy between her words and her actions; "These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues" (1.2.123).

Henry's mistake results directly from his failure to grasp the importance of silent actions and symbolic decisions; "a gesture—especially such an ill-considered one—is worth and makes worthless, a thousand pretty words.

When first this order was ordained, my lords, Knights of the garter were of noble birth, Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage, Such as were grown to credit by the wars; Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress, But always resolute in most extremes.

Virtue he had, deserving to command; His brandished sword did bind men with his beams, His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings, His sparkling eyes, replete with wrathful fire, More dazzled and drove back his enemies Than midday sun fierce bent against their faces.

This represents one of the ironies in the play's depiction of chivalry; it is the very resoluteness of Talbot's honour and integrity, his insistence in preserving an old code abandoned by all others, which ultimately defeats him; his inability to adjust means he becomes unable to function in the newly established 'dishonourable' context.

"[69] The English continually refer to her as a witch and a whore, the French as a saint and a saviour, and the play itself seems to waver between these two poles: "Joan first appears in a state of beatitude, patient, serene, the "Divinest creature" of Charles' adoration, the object of the Virgin Mary's miraculous intercession, chosen by her to rescue France, and so made beautiful, courageous and wise [...] on the other hand, and virtually at the same time, she's clearly an early combination of the demonic, the Machiavellian, and the Marlovian.

I never had to do with wicked spirits; But you, that are polluted with your lusts, Stained with the guiltless blood of innocents, Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices – Because you want the grace that others have, You judge it straight a thing impossible To compass wonders but by help of devils.

No, misconceiv'd, Joan of Arc hath been A virgin from her tender infancy, Chaste and immaculate in very thought, Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effused, Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.

Examples of the comic treatment of the characters are found during the battle of Orléans, where Joan is ludicrously depicted as defending the city from the entire English army single-handed, whilst Talbot stands by incredulously watching his soldiers flee one after another.

Possibly as a reaction to a recent adaptation of the trilogy under the general title Wars of the Roses, which was strongly political – Hands attempted to ensure his own production was entirely apolitical.

[84] Outside the UK, the first major American performance was in 1935 at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, directed by Gilmore Brown, as part of a production of all ten Shakespearean histories (the two tetralogies, preceded by King John and proceeded by Henry VIII).

Starring Ralph Fiennes as Henry, Penny Downie as Margaret, Mark Hadfield as Talbot and Julia Ford as Joan, the production was extremely successful with both audiences and critics.

Under the title Rose Rage, Hall used a cast of only thirteen actors to portray the nearly one hundred and fifty speaking roles in the four-hour production, thus necessitating doubling and tripling of parts.

Directed by Michael Hayes and produced by Peter Dews, with a script by Eric Crozier, the production featured Terry Scully as Henry, Mary Morris as Margaret and Eileen Atkins as Joan.

Howell's presentation of the complete first historical tetralogy was one of the most lauded achievements of the entire BBC series, and prompted Stanley Wells to argue that the productions were "probably purer than any version given in the theatre since Shakespeare's time.

"[108] Another element of verfremdungseffekt in this production is seen when Gloucester and Winchester encounter one another at the Tower, both are on horseback, but the horses they ride are hobby-horses, which the actors (David Burke and Frank Middlemass respectively) cause to pivot and prance as they speak.

[111] Graham Holderness saw Howell's non-naturalistic production as something of a reaction to the BBC's adaptation of the Henriad in seasons one and two, which had been directed by David Giles in the traditional and straightforward manner favoured by then series producer Cedric Messina; "where Messina saw the history plays conventionally as orthodox Tudor historiography, and [David Giles] employed dramatic techniques that allow that ideology a free and unhampered passage to the spectator, Jane Howell takes a more complex view of the first tetralogy as, simultaneously, a serious attempt at historical interpretation, and as a drama with a peculiarly modern relevance and contemporary application.

Some of the more notable omissions include; in Act 1, Scene 1, absent are Bedford's references to children crying and England becoming a marsh since Henry V died: "Posterity await for wretched years/When, at their mothers' moistened eyes, babes shall suck,/Our isle be made a marish of salt tears,/And none but women left to wail the dead."

In Act 1, Scene 2, Alençon's praise of the resoluteness of the English army is absent: "Froissart, a countryman of ours, records/England all Olivers and Rolands bred/During the time Edward the Third did reign./More truly now may this be verified,/For none by Samsons and Goliases/It sendeth forth to skirmish."

In Act 1, Scene 7, some of Charles' praise of Joan is absent: "A statelier pyramis to her I'll rear/Than Rhodope's of Memphis ever was./In memory of her, when she is dead,/Her ashes, in an urn more precious/Than the rich-jewelled coffer of Darius,/Transported shall be at high festivals/Before the kings and queens of France" (ll.21–27).

Adapted by Martin Jenkins as part of the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, 1 Henry VI comprised episodes 15 ("Joan of Arc") and 16 ("The White Rose and the Red").

Aya Kanno's Japanese manga comic Requiem of the Rose King is a loose adaptation of the first Shakespearean historical tetralogy, covering Henry VI and Richard III.