 Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Table of Contents Act IV, Scene I Summary Henry VI is crowned King of England and France. Fastolfe arrives with a message from Burgundy. He is disgraced and banished by the King for his cowardly desertion of the English forces at the battle of Patay. The king hears of Burgundy’s change of heart and charges Talbot with the task of winning him back to the English side. Vernon and Basset enter, asking permission to fight. At the king’s order they place their grievance before him. The king commands both Somerset and York to make peace between them. He creates York, his regent in France and tells Somerset to join forces with the former against their French foes. Exeter doesn’t place much faith in the peace that has been concluded and sees only trouble ahead. Notes The young Henry VI is made King of England and France. But even as his coronation is being conducted, Fastolfe arrives with bad tidings of Burgundy’s desertion. The young king’s troubles are compounded by the knowledge of the friction that exists between York and Somerset. He tries to establish peace between the two noblemen. His appeal to them is intelligent and pathetic at the same time. He sees the danger of internal dissension and at the same time feels quite powerless to control it. His reference "my tender years" underlines the fact that he is but a child, faced with troubles that require a strong, experienced hand. Although overt peace is established between York and Somerset, things are not as they seem. York’s dialogue with Warwick reveals that he suspects the King of favoring Somerset. Exeter picks up these undercurrents and fears the future. His words foreshadow the grim future ahead for the English. Table of Contents | |
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