SOURCE: Cox, John D., and Eric Rasmussen. Introduction to King Henry VI Part 3, by William Shakespeare, edited by John D. Cox and Eric Rasmussen, pp. 1-176. London: Arden Shakespeare, 2001.

In the following excerpt, Cox and Rasmussen review the characters of Henry and Richard. They note that there is an ongoing debate among critics regarding whether King Henry is a symbol of saintliness or ineptitude; however, they find that most critics agree that Richard's character is evil.

Henry

Of the two characters who have been most discussed in 3 Henry VI, Henry has been regarded least consistently. To some interpreters, he has appeared to be a good man in a bad situation, capable of doing no wrong himself but destroyed by the wrongs of others. ‘This gentle, bewildered soul makes the only human remarks in [2 Henry VI]’, John Masefield observed. ‘In Shakespeare's vision it is from such souls, planted, to...