Henry VI Part 2 Characters

At all times, King Henry VI is a noble and sweet guy. He values peace and hates achieving it through war; he's super hesitant to fight when York wants to duke it out; he's full of thought-provoking...

Queen Margaret is strong, controlling, and passionate. She knows what she wants, and she goes after it, no matter who's in her way. When the play opens, we learn that Henry gave up two big chunks o...

The Duke of Gloucester, Humphrey of Lancaster, is the uncle of Henry and Protector of England. We learn right away that some people—like Cardinal Beaufort, who's been feuding with him since way b...

Richard, Duke of York is Henry VI's biggest opponent. Why? Well, once upon a time, it was decided that the English throne would pass down from father to son to son to son… you get the idea. This...

William, Duke of Suffolk (a.k.a. William de la Pole) is a noble on Henry's side with an agenda of his own. He might wear Henry's colors, but he's really just out for himself, and part of the proble...

Cardinal Beaufort is the Bishop of Winchester and Henry's great-uncle. To make things extra confusing, his peeps call him "Beaufort," "Winchester," or just "Cardinal," depending on what's going dow...

When we first hear of a commoner named Jack Cade, it's from York, who wants to put some feelers out to see if his days of dreaming of the crown are numbered. So he up and hires Jack Cade to get in...

The Duchess of Gloucester, Eleanor Cobham also likes to go by "Nell," her hubby's pet name for her. She might be "second woman in the realm" (2.1.45), but this girl's got dreams: Eleanor doesn't wa...

Look out, folks, because the peanut gallery's armed itself with some serious swords.The rebels are Cade's posse. What we really appreciate about this motley crew is how they provide a constant stre...

For most of the play, Duke Buckingham and Duke Somerset are either accusing Gloucester of wrecking the kingdom or making a power play for themselves. (Things don't go so well for Somerset: when he...

Their names are Earl Warwick and Earl Salisbury, but you can drop the "earl" if you want. These two pals only come around to Team York after a long discussion with him, during which he gives a litt...

Things get heated when Thomas Horner, an armorer, and Peter Thump, his assistant, get in a fight. This isn't just any old fight: Peter claims he heard Horner calling York the rightful king. Now, th...

This pair of scam artists is only around for one scene, but boy, is that scene an eye-opener. After Simpcox pretends to be miraculously healed from blindness, Gloucester is skeptical. He sets up a...

It sucks to be Lords Stafford and Saye. When the rebellion breaks out, they pretty much find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time: Lord Stafford and his brother get bumped off and dragge...

Cue the thunder and lighting, because there are some spirits in the house. The witch and conjurer get Eleanor in deep doo-doo because people were definitely not supposed to dabble in witchcraft bac...

York's sons help him out by killing anyone who threatens York's bid for the throne. We only see them briefly at the end of this play, but it's long enough to watch Richard kill Somerset and fulfill...

Young Clifford is the son of—you guessed it—Lord Clifford. When he shows up on the battlefield, he finds his dad, killed by York. It would be fair to say he doesn't take the news well. Young Cl...

Heads will roll around Iden, a gent from Kent. When Jack Cade shows up in his garden, Iden's kind to the rebellious leader, who is obviously famished. Things turn sour, though, when Cade threatens...

Walter Whitmore and the lieutenant are on the ship that Suffolk has been put on to get him out of England. The conversation these men have with the high-and-mighty Suffolk is a jaw-dropper. Up unti...