Explore: Octology

Henry VI, Part 1, often referred to as 1 Henry VI, is a history play by William Shakespeare—possibly in collaboration with Thomas Nashe and others—believed to have been written in 1591. It is set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Henry VI, Part 1 deals with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, as the English political system is torn apart by personal squabbles and petty jealousy. Henry VI, Part 2 deals with the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles and the inevitability of armed conflict and Henry VI, Part 3 deals with the horrors of that conflict. Although the Henry VI trilogy may not have been written in chronological order, the three plays are often grouped together with Richard III to form a tetralogy covering the entire Wars of the Roses saga, from the death of Henry V in 1422 to the rise to power of Henry VII in 1485. It was the success of this sequence of plays that firmly established Shakespeare's reputation as a playwright. Some regard Henry VI, Part 1 as the weakest of Shakespeare's plays. Along with Titus Andronicus, it is generally considered one of the strongest candidates for evidence that Shakespeare collaborated with other dramatists early in his career.

Henry VI, Part 2 (1591) is a Shakespearean history play about King Henry VI of England's inability to quell the bickering of his noblemen, the death of his trusted advisor Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and the political rise of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York; it culminates with the First Battle of St Albans (1455), the initial battle of the Wars of the Roses, which were civil wars between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. In the early historical narrative of Henry VI, Part 1 (1591) Shakespeare dealt with the low morale consequent to the loss of England's French territories (1429–1453) during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) and the political machinations that precipitated the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). In the concluding history of Henry VI, Part 3 (1591), the English playwright William Shakespeare deals with the fraternal horrors of civil war amongst Englishmen. In English literature, The Tragedy of Richard III (1594) is included to the trilogy of stageplays about King Henry VI into an informal tetralogy of history plays about the family sagas that motivated the Wars of the Roses for control of the throne of England. Shakespeare's historical narrative begins with the death of Henry V of England in 1422 and continues for sixty-three years to the ascent of Henry VII of England in 1485.