e a little of this tragedy;
it is not known when; nor why. Poets do not sin against their art unless
they are in desperate want. Shakespeare certainly never touched this job
for love. There is only one brief trace of his great, rejoicing
triumphant manner. It is possible that the play was brought to him by
his theatre-manager, with some such words as these: "This piece is very
bad, but it will succeed, and I mean to produce it, if I can start
rehearsals at once. Will you revise it for me? Please do what you can
with it, and write in lines and passages where you think it is wanting.
And whatever happens please let me have it by Monday."

The only poetry in the play comes in the three lines--

"You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome,
By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts."

_King Henry VI, Part I._

_Written._ 1589-91.

_Produced._ 1591.

_Published_, in the first folio, 1623.

_Source of the Plot._ Raphael Holinshed's _Chronicles_.

_The Fable._ The play begins shortly after the death of King Henry
V. Henry VI is too young to rule. There is a feud between
Gloucester, the Lord Protector, and Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of
Winchester. In France, where Talbot is besieging Orleans, the
English have had many losses. Joan of Arc begins her conquering
progress by causing Talbot to raise the siege.

A feud between the Duke of York (the white rose faction) and the
Earl of Somerset (the red rose faction) becomes acute, in spite of
King Henry's personal intercession. It intensifies the feud between
the Lord Protector and the Cardinal. In France, Talbot is killed in
battle. The English are beaten from their possessions. Joan of Arc
is taken, tried, and burned.

The menace of civil trouble hangs over King Henry's court. The feud
between the factions of the roses threatens to break into war. The
Earl of Suffolk (one of the red rose faction) schemes to marry King
Henry to Margaret of Anjou. It is made plain that he means to
become Margaret's lover so that he may rule England through her. A
disgraceful peace is concluded with France. The play ends with
Suffolk's departure to arrange the King's marriage with Margaret.

It is plain that this play is not the work of one mind. Part of it is
the work of a man who saw a big tragic purpose in events. T