SOURCE: “Some Aspects of Style in the Henry VI Plays,” in Shakespeare's Styles: Essays in Honour of Kenneth Muir, Cambridge University Press, 1980, pp. 9-24.

In the essay below, Clemen analyzes the language and dramatic effect of several key speeches in Henry VI, contrasting their “extraordinary clarity of utterance” with the “somewhat two-dimensional world” of the play.

Duchess. Ah, Gloucester, teach me to forget myself! For whilst I think I am thy married wife And thou a prince, Protector of this land, Methinks I should not thus be led along, Mailed up in shame, with papers on my back, And followed with a rabble that rejoice To see my tears and hear my deep-fet groans. The ruthless flint doth cut my tender feet, And when I start, the envious people laugh And bid me be advisèd how I tread. Ah, Humphrey, can I bear this shameful yoke? Trowest...