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1!!As the play is OlderThanSteam and based on historical events, and as most twists in Shakespeare's plots are now [[ItWasHisSled widely known]], all spoilers on this page are [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked]].
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3[[quoteright:221:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king-henry-v1-part-1_7508.jpg]]
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5->''Civil dissension is a viperous worm''
6->''That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth.''
7->--'''Henry VI''', III.i
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9A history play principally penned by Creator/WilliamShakespeare, ''Henry VI Part 1'' is the first of three plays describing the end of UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar and the outbreak of the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses. ''Part 1'' deals with the resumed war between the French and English and sets up many of the conflicts that run through the other two plays, but critics are divided over the quality of the play: older critics deride it for its use of violence and conventions, while more modern critics are more positive, emphasizing its themes of failing chivalry and patriotism. The other two plays are ''Theatre/HenryVIPart2'' and ''Theatre/HenryVIPart3''.
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11The play opens with the funeral of the great warrior king Theatre/HenryV (though his play would be written later), and we see already that the English nobles are beginning to feud among themselves.
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13Meanwhile, in France, the great chivalric knight Sir John Talbot is meeting new resistance from an unexpected source -- a woman. La Pucelle (''i.e.'', Joan of Arc) has arrived in the Dauphin's camp and revitalised his flagging army. Joan distinguishes herself by her unconventional, underhanded style of warfare, directly contradicting and ultimately destroying Talbot's outdated ideas of chivalry and honourable combat. This, together with the cowardly Fastolf (a precursor to Falstaff), signals the end of the chivalric age.
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15The young king, Henry VI, arrives for his coronation in France and tries to reconcile the feuding nobles, who have by now divided themselves into two camps symbolised by red and white roses. He inadvertently makes things worse by seeming to favour the Red Rose faction (Winchester), then sending the two chief rivals out at the head of two parts of his army -- a recipe for disaster. The Dukes of York (leader of the White Rose faction) and Somerset (leader of the Red Rose faction) refuse to come to each other's aid in battle and as a result, Talbot is abandoned by both and killed by the French. York manages to defeat the French and captures Joan, whom he orders to be burned at the stake.
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17One of the spoils of the English victory is a young French princess, Margaret of Anjou. The Earl of Suffolk plots to marry her to King Henry and thereby gain influence over the throne, setting up events in the next installment.
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19While this play is traditionally credited mostly to Shakespeare's authorship, scholarly analysis since the 1980s has led to theories that Shakespeare collaborated with his contemporary Creator/ChristopherMarlowe much more extensively on its writing than was previously believed. These theories were deemed compelling enough that the publishers of the 2016 edition of ''New Oxford Shakespeare'' [[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/oct/23/christopher-marlowe-credited-as-one-of-shakespeares-co-writers credited Marlowe as a co-author.]]
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21!!This play provides examples of:
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23* AnachronismStew: A character is referred to as a "Machiavel" during the play, at least one generation before Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli was born and even longer before he ever wrote ''Literature/ThePrince''. However, the events in the play presage Machiavellianism, especially in the feuding nobles and Joan's strategies, directly leading to the end of the chivalric model in Talbot's death.
24* AntiHero: Almost everyone, with the notable exception of Talbot, who is a hero in the classic chivalric model, and whose death symbolizes the end of the chivalric era, and the start of political machinations in warfare.
25* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Contrary to what the play shows, John Talbot outlived Joan of Arc by more than two decades; Joan was burned at the stake in 1431, while Talbot was killed in battle in 1453. He also met his end at ''Gascony'', not Bordeaux.
26* BurnTheWitch: The eventual (offscreen) fate of Joan.
27* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: When Joan isn't present, the French are successfully routed just by shouting the ''name'' of the English hero Talbot at them. The only way the French succeed at anything in the play ([[UnreliableNarrator according to the English]]) is through trickery, treason, and witchcraft.
28* AChildShallLeadThem: Henry mentions he was crowned at nine months old. Averted in that it's made clear that the ensuing power vacuum caused incredible civil strife.
29* DaChief: Talbot
30* DealWithTheDevil: Suggested to be the key to Joan's success in battle. An alternate interpretation is that she only did so near the end of the war out of desperation.
31* EveryoneIsRelated: Expected, given that almost every major character is of noble blood and there's not ''that'' much to go around.
32* EvilChancellor: Richard Beaufort, [[CorruptChurch Cardinal of Winchester]] and illegitimate son of John of Gaunt, schemes to be the power behind young Henry.
33* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: The countess of Auvergne when she sees Talbot.
34* AFatherToHisMen: Literally in Talbot's case as his son fights and dies under his command.
35* GreyAndGrayMorality: Neither the French nor the English are cast in a particularly flattering light, and the two armies are shown internally ridiculing each other for the exact same perceived flaws.
36* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
37** Even in Shakespeare's time, it was known that charges of heresy and crossdressing pressed against Joan of Arc were a KangarooCourt, and accusations of witchcraft never went to trial. In this play, it's suggest she really did make a DealWithTheDevil to aid the French side of the war.
38** Also Sir John Fastolf. The battle portrayed in the play was due to rashness on Talbot's part, whilst Fastolf was a cautious, conscientious soldier who got the blame for Talbot's defeat.
39* [[JeannedArchetype Jeanne d'Archétype]]: Joan of Arc (here called Joan la Pucelle, or ''Joan the Pure''), who has supposedly been sent by God to lead the French to victory.
40* LoveAtFirstSight: Suffolk falls in love with Margaret the moment he sees her...but unfortunately for him, he's already married. ''Then'' he gets the idea to persuade Henry to marry her, so that he'll have license to be her lover.
41* NonActionGuy: Henry VI, a bookish and pious ruler when England really needed a strong warrior.
42* OneSceneTwoMonologues: Margaret and Suffolk's first meeting, where he waxes lyrical about her beauty and plots to marry her to Henry, and she tries to come to terms with being made a prisoner.
43* OneSteveLimit: The First Folio lists Fastolf's name as [[Theatre/HenryIV "Falstaff"]]. Modern performances and printings use "Fastolf" to avoid confusion with the more popular character who died in ''Theatre/HenryV''.
44* PerspectiveFlip: By way of PopCulturalOsmosis--modern viewers (even English-speaking ones) are generally more familiar with the French version of the story of Joan of Arc rather than the English-favoring account which this play presents.
45* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Talbot and Duke Humphrey. Interesting to point out that the only two Reasonable Authority Figures in the whole trilogy die early and that the rest suffer from ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.
46* RedBaron: Talbot, Terror of the French.

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