Henry VI (Parts I, II and III) (Signet Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author), Sylvan Barnet (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2005

1 Henry VI was the Rose Theatre's great draw in the spring of 1592, a dramatic tale of the lives of soldiers, diplomats, kings, and insurrectionists. It centres on the fractious instability of the court and nobility of fifteenth-century England, and their squabbles with their French counterparts.

Despite its debut performance in 1592, however, 1 Henry VI does not take a printed form until its appearance some thirty years later in the 1623 Folio. There are many questions, therefore, surrounding exactly how many people wrote the play, when they did so, how it was performed, who played what part, and the nature of the manuscript behind the first performance. In his wide-ranging introduction, Michael Taylor offers answers to these questions, and discusses other key issues such as language, structure, performance history, and the role of women in the play.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451529847
• ISBN-13: 978-0451529848
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #589,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Intro to spoken Shakespeare, February 20, 2009

By 

C. McCloskey "Auntie C" (Bawlmer, Merlin, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Henry VI (Arkangel Complete Shakespeare) (Audio CD)

I didn't know what to think of the histories when I started going through the Arkangel audiobooks. I knew the greatest hits, but the histories?
Little did I know that the histories were the big hits in Shakespeare's lifetime. The events in these plays were well known to his audience, so they liked seeing these events dramatized. Once you get beyond our sensibilities (i.e. that we have no clue who these people are) you can see them as they did, as the action-adventure-thriller of that time.
OK, so why start on the Henry VI/Richard III series?
David Tennant. Full stop.
He may not be listed as narrator but the director of the Arkangel series used the same actors for the same character throughout the series so, although DT is not prominent in this play (despite the title) his character (Henry VI) is in it, so I listened to it.
Whatever the reason, it got me interested so I listened to all four plays with him in it, and will go back and listen to the four that make up the Henry IV/Henry V series too.
Do I like them? Yes. Will I be listening to/ buying more? Yes (the antidote to a long commute). Will I ever see this one on stage? well...

I am delighted in the performances, in general, on the Arkangel series and now am starting to recognize some of the players as they appear in other things.