num_pages: 360
description: 
  
    A fresh look at a play usually regarded as the first component of a three-part historical epic, this edition argues that Henry VI Part 1 is a "prequel," a freestanding piece that returns for ironic and dramatic effect to a story already familiar to its audience. The play's ingenious use of stage space is closely analyzed, as is its manipulation of a series of set-piece combats to give a coherent syntax of action. Discussion of the dramatic structure created by the opposing figures of Talbot and Jeanne la Pucelle, and exploration of the critical controversies and "puzzles" surrounding the figure of Jeanne, lead to a reflection on the nature of the history play as genre in the 1590s. Burns provides notes on his editorial procedure in the section before the play itself. Appendices on names, naming, and wordplay; casting; contemporary adaptations; and military hierarchy and the conduct of war in the age of Henry VI are also included.
     
    The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.
  

language: English
title: King Henry VI, Part 1
titlecomplete: King Henry VI, Part 1
characters: Sir William Lucy, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, Jean de Dunois, Jeanne d'Arc, Master Gunner of Orléans, Sir John Fastolf, Jean II, Duke of Alençon, Basset of the Lancastrian (Red Rose) faction, Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter, John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles VII of France, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, Henry Beaufort, Cardinal of Winchester, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, General of the French Garrison at Bordeaux, Sir Thomas Gargrave, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, Vernon of the Yorkist (White Rose) Faction, Henry VI of England, René of Anjou, Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, Margaret of Anjou, Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury, Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester, A Papal Legate, Sir William Glasdale, A Lawyer of the Temple, Master Gunner's son, Eleanor Cobham, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, Countess of Auvergne, Jacques Darc, Nicholas Watton, Lord Mayor of London
genres: Fiction, Plays, Theatre, Historical, Poetry, British Literature, Drama, Literature, Classics, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 8603
places: England
series: Wars of the Roses, Shakespeare's Minor Tetralogy, Henry VI
publisher: The Arden Shakespeare