King Henry VI Part 2 The Arden Shakespeare

Edited by Ronald Knowles
This edition celebrates King Henry VI Part II as one of the most exciting and dynamic plays of the English renaissance theatre, with its exploration of power politics and social revolution and its focus on the relationship between divine justice and sin. An extensive discussion of performance history traces the play's progress on stage from abridgement and adaptation to full historical epic. A survey of criticism discusses the wide range of responses provoked by the play's handling of its historical theme, and concludes by focusing on the element of burlesque in the attempted social revolution portrayed. The First Quarto is reproduced in facsimile as an appendix.