VI is Holinshed's Chronicles followed "with that particularity which we have in Shakespeare's later historical plays," it is noteworthy that it is the primary source of Part I., the secondary of Parts II. and III. (On the historical aspect of the plays, cp. Commentaries on the Historical Plays of Shakespeare, Courtenay; Warner's English History in Shakespeare.)

DURATION OF ACTION

The time of the First Part is eight days, with intervals; the Second Part covers fourteen days, represented on the stage, with intervals suggesting a period in all of, at the outside, a couple of years; in the Third Part twenty days are represented; the whole period is about twelve months.

HISTORIC TIME

Part I. deals with the period from "the death of Henry V, August 31, 1422, to the treaty of marriage between Henry VI and Margaret, end of 1444." Part II. covers about ten years, from April 22, 1445, to May 23, 1455. Part III. commences "on the day of the battle of St. Albans, May 23, 1455, and ends on the day on which Henry VI's body was exposed in St. Paul's, May 22, 1471. Queen Margaret, however, was not ransomed and sent to France till 1475." (Cp. Daniel's "Time Analysis," New Shak. Soc., 1877-79.)

Chatillon, we have no dialogue, but simply, "Many words he used to persuade him to have saved his life." In Hall we have the very words which the poet has paraphrased.

THE FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY VI

KING HENRY the Sixth

DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, uncle to the King, and Protector

DUKE OF BEDFORD, uncle to the King, and Regent of France
THOMAS BEAUFORT, Duke of Exeter, great-uncle to the King ·

HENRY BEAUFORT, great-uncle to the King, Bishop of Winchester, and afterwards Cardinal

JOHN BEAUFORT, Earl, afterwards Duke, of Somerset

RICHARD PLANTAGENET, son of Richard, late Earl of Cambridge, afterwards Duke of York

EARL OF WARWICK

EARL OF SALISBURY

EARL OF SUFFOLK

LORD TALBOT, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury

JOHN TALBOT, his son

EDMUND MORTIMER, Earl of March

SIR JOHN FASTOLFE

SIR WILLIAM LUCY

SIR WILLIAM GLANSDALE

SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE

Mayor of London

WOODVILE, Lieutenant of the Tower

VERNON, of the White-Rose or York faction

BASSET, of the Red-Rose or Lancaster faction

A Lawyer, Mortimer's Keepers

CHARLES, Dauphin, and afterwards King, of France
REIGNIER, Duke of Anjou, and titular King of Naples

DUKE OF BURGUNDY

DUKE OF ALENÇON
BASTARD OF ORLEANS

Governor of Paris

Master-Gunner of Orleans and his Son

General of the French forces in Bordeaux
A French Sergeant A Porter

An old Shepherd, father to Joan la Pucelle

MARGARET, daughter to Reignier, afterwards married to King Henry COUNTESS OF AUVERGNE

JOAN LA PUCELLE, commonly called Joan of Arc

Lords, Warders of the Tower, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and Attendants

Fiends appearing to La Pucelle

SCENE: Partly in England, and partly in France

SYNOPSIS

By J. ELLIS BURDICK

ACT I

By the death of the valiant King Henry V his infant son, Henry VI, succeeded to the thrones of England and France. The young King's guardians, forgetful of their country's interests, engage in quarrels with each other. The French take advantage of this weakness to regain many of their cities. Joan la Pucelle, or Joan of Arc, as she is known in history, renders valuable aid to the Dauphin of France, later Charles VII; she assists him to raise the siege of Orleans in spite of the able resistance of Talbot, the English general.

АСТ П

The English retake Orleans by a sudden attack while the French are feasting in celebration of their victory. In England the quarrels of Richard Plantagenet, afterwards the Duke of York, and John Beaufort, Earl, afterwards the Duke, of Somerset, grow more violent and develop into the civil war known as the War of the Roses from the colors and flowers worn by either side-white roses by the Plantagenets (the House of York) and red ones by the Somersets (the House of Lancaster).

ACT III

Aided by La Pucelle, the French capture Rouen, but the English under Talbot retake it. Leaving a garrison in the town, Talbot and his army go to Paris, where the young monarch, Henry VI, is awaiting his coronation as King of France. The French Duke of Burgundy, who has been serving in the English army, is met by La Pucelle and the

Dauphin and persuaded to return to his old allegiance. Henry creates Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury in recognition of his services.

ACT IV

Talbot and his son John attempt to capture Bordeaux, but are surrounded by a much larger force of the French under the Dauphin. The quarrels of the Dukes of York and Somerset prevent them from sending additional troops to the Talbots and they are slain in a strongly contested battle.

ACT V

Henry VI consents to his guardians' plans for his marriage with the daughter of the French Earl of Armagnac. In a battle before Angiers, the English capture Joan of Arc and Margaret of Anjou. Joan is condemned to death at the stake and Henry is persuaded by the Duke of Suffolk to break his engagement with the Earl of Armagnac's daughter in favor of an alliance with Margaret. Charles the Dauphin swears allegiance to Henry VI and reigns as viceroy of France.