Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Henry VI, Part 2
    Henry VI, Part 2
    Henry VI, Part 2
    Audiobook3 hours

    Henry VI, Part 2

    Written by William Shakespeare

    Narrated by LibriVox Community

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Henry VI, Part 2 or The Second Part of Henry the Sixth (often written as 2 Henry VI) is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas 1 Henry VI deals primarily with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, and 3 Henry VI deals with the horrors of that conflict, 2 Henry VI focuses on the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles, the death of his trusted adviser Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, the rise of the Duke of York and the inevitability of armed conflict. As such, the play culminates with the opening battle of the War, the First Battle of St Albans. Henry VI may be viewed as a study in insurrection, which moves from the private and personal jostlings in the court in Part 1 to outright civil war in Part 3. In Part 2 the discord between prominent state officials, notably Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, spreads to the common people, fomenting an abortive rebellion, lead by the rascally Kentishman, Jack Cade. With the death of Humphrey, the period of regency for the naive Henry effectively comes to an end, and the unworldly monarch is helplessly exposed to the interminable strife between the factions of the houses of York and of Lancaster. The structure of the play differs from the other two parts in that there is a central rustic idyll (Act 4), populated by clownish characters, which recalls the idyllic centrepieces of comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It. The plays with the effective deposition of Henry, who is later re-installed as king in Part 3 by the influential Earl of Warwick. Henry VI, Part 2 has the largest cast of all Shakespeare's plays, and is seen by many critics as the best of the Henry VI trilogy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLibriVox
    Release dateAug 25, 2014
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

    More audiobooks from William Shakespeare

    Related to Henry VI, Part 2

    Related audiobooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Pygmalion

      Sep 28, 2022

      Pygmalion
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Art Of Diplomacy

      Jun 11, 2020

      The Art Of Diplomacy
      6 min read

    • Article

      Henry V’s Troubled Legacy

      Aug 4, 2022

      Henry V’s Troubled Legacy
      10 min read

    • Article

      Henry Vii Had Been Overthrown?

      Oct 8, 2020

      Henry Vii Had Been Overthrown?
      5 min read

    • Article

      The War That Rose From The Dead

      Apr 15, 2021

      The War That Rose From The Dead
      2 min read

    • Article

      State Of The Nation

      Mar 16, 2022

      State Of The Nation
      4 min read

    • Article

      THE WHITE ROSE & THE TUDORS

      Nov 29, 2018

      THE WHITE ROSE & THE TUDORS
      3 min read

    • Article

      Cam’ Ye O’er Frae France?

      Apr 17, 2020

      The displeasure of the Scots – and, it has to be said, many English and Irish – at having a Hanoverian foisted on them, bubbled over in a number of ways. Some accepted that ‘German George’ was as much a Stuart as ‘The Old Pretender’, son of King Jame

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Greatest Pretender

      Apr 15, 2021

      The Greatest Pretender
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Trauma Of War

      Jul 14, 2021

      The Trauma Of War
      8 min read

    • Article

      Fighting Dirty

      Nov 24, 2022

      Military leaders pulled off some outrageous stunts to outfox their enemies in the Middle Ages. But the one that the Norman leader Bohemond of Taranto deployed at the beginning of the 12th century - pretending he was dead - surely takes some beating.

      6 min read

    • Article

      The White Rose & The Tudors

      Mar 19, 2018

      The White Rose & The Tudors
      3 min read

    • Article

      ‘Terrible Blowe’: Gunpowder Plot Tipoff Letter To Go On Display

      Nov 2, 2022

      More than six centuries after Edward III first enshrined the crime of treason in English law, the letter that thwarted one of the most infamous acts in the nation’s history is to go on public display. The anonymous “Monteagle letter”, of 26 October 1

      3 min read

    • Article

      Field Of The Cloth Of Gold

      May 14, 2020

      Field Of The Cloth Of Gold
      4 min read

    • Article

      Storm of Victory

      Oct 30, 2018

      Storm of Victory
      3 min read

    • Article

      Henry IV Sees Off Rebel Forces

      Jun 11, 2020

      Henry IV Sees Off Rebel Forces
      1 min read

    • Article

      Books Of 2021

      Dec 29, 2021

      Available from amazon.co.uk Bestselling historian Andrew Lownie reveals the dramatic lives of the Windsors post-abdication. This is a story of a Royal shut out by his family and forced into exile; of the Nazi attempts to recruit the Duke to their cau

      3 min read

    • Article

      Key Events

      May 18, 2023

      Queen Anne dies and the throne goes to George, the son of Sophia, Electress of Hanover. Despite the presence of numerous rivals for the throne, his ascendence marked the beginning of the Georgian era. George spoke only a little English and had to com

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Quick Stop in Greece

      Aug 21, 2019

      If my records are correct, this is my 192nd column in World Coin News. It only took twenty years of writing under three column names and three publishers. To lead off, a neat little, undated uniface coin from the German city of Buchhorn. From Buchhor

      2 min read

    • Article

      Blood Brothers

      Jan 1, 2019

      Blood Brothers
      8 min read

    • Article

      Henry Ii’s Armour

      Dec 23, 2021

      Henry II (1519-59) was king of France between 1547-59. A monarch of the Valois-Angoulême dynasty, his short reign was marked by military hostilities. Henry declared war against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in a conflict that became known as the Itali

      1 min read

    • Article

      Encounters

      Aug 6, 2020

      Encounters
      3 min read

    • Article

      Our Weak Island Fortress

      Jun 1, 2022

      I recently ‘did the rounds’ at Deal Castle. That, the nice English Heritage people told us, was where the phrase originated. The castle, built in 1540 to a design personally approved by Henry VIII – which may explain why its plan looks like a Tudor r

      3 min read

    • Article

      Dawn Of A dynasty

      Aug 11, 2023

      Dawn Of A dynasty
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Henry VI, Part 2

    3.5/5

    5 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Very good. Would prefer the voice of King Henry VI was male. Yet still, a very excellent reading