King Henry VI, Part 2 (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)

This edition celebrates King Henry VI Part 2 as one of the most exciting and dynamic plays of the English renaissance theater, 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. A facsimile of the First Quarto printed by Thomas Creed in 1594 appears as an appendix. Also included are notes about textual variants in the early quartos, a selection of lines that are thought to refer to other plays, a doubling chart, a list of the play's sources, and a genealogy chart.

The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play's foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.

Table of Contents
List of illustrations
General editors' preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Performance
Abridgement and adaptation
From abridgement to full text
Criticism
Augustans to German Romantics
Victorians and Edwardians
Tillyard and the Tudor myth
Brockbank and the anti-Tillyardians
Providence on trial
Carnivalesque history
Seneca, rhetoric and poetry
Feminism
History, justice and drama
Text
The 'upstart Crow'
Date, sequence and authorship
From revision to report
Acceptance and reaction
KING HENRY VI, PART 2
Longer Notes
Appendices
1) The First Quarto (1594)
2) Q1 and Q3 variants
3) 'Recollections' in The Contention
4) Doubling chart
5) Sources
6) Genealogical tables
Abbreviations and references
Index