Henry VI, part 3 covers some of the most important battles of the war, and it contains some vivid and memorable characters, notable Richard III and Queen Margaret. Shakespeare’s characters are starting to be three-dimensional and psychologically complex.
There are some very effective set pieces, such as the death of York and the murder of Rutland. And the deathly father-son pairs that Henry VI witnesses are a perfect emblem of civil war.
Poetry and imagery are vivid throughout, and the portraits Shakespeare provides of lasciviousness, malevolence, and ambition in the mighty are strong.
What does the play reveal about Shakespeare’s future development? How do relationships within families evolve over the course of the three plays? Does Richard behave as he does because he is malformed, or is he malformed because of his inner degeneracy? What’s Edward IV like?
