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.
John D. Cox is the DuMez Professor of English at Hope College, Michigan. He is the author of Shakespeare and the Dramaturgy of Power and The Devil and the Sacred in English Drama, 1350-1642, and co-editor with David Scott Kastan of A New History of Early English Drama.
Eric Rasmussen is Associate Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is joint editor with David Bevington of Doctor Faustus in the Revels Plays series and the World's Classics edition of Christopher Marlowe's plays, author of A Textual Companion to 'Doctor Faustus', and co-editor of the forthcoming Norton Anthology of English Renaissance Drama. He writes the annual review of "Editions and Textual Studies" for Shakespeare Survey.
