SOURCE: Martin, Randall. Introduction to Henry VI, Part Three, by William Shakespeare, edited by Randall Martin, pp. 1-132. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

In the following excerpt, Martin investigates the changing critical attitudes toward Margaret, observing that while early productions of the Henry VI plays virtually ignored her, or reduced her to a clichéd example of female shrewishness, recent productions have depicted Margaret as a more complex character.

Margaret's Story: A‘new’ Play

In a discussion of The Plantagenets, director Adrian Noble described the role of Queen Margaret as ‘A King Lear for women’.¹ Although his claim was not new, it was still sufficiently unconventional to be surprising, perhaps even eccentric. We recall that among the original and adapted titles of 3 Henry VI, none mentions Margaret, even though she is Shakespeare's most enduring royal figure, appearing prominently over the course of all four plays of the first tetralogy...