Shakespeare's Kings (98 page)

The
first
scene
of
Act
II
—
the
opening
line
of
which
is
curiously
similar to
that
of
Act
I
-
is
a
masterpiece
of
concision,
covering
as
it
does
two

1. Neither Prince was in fact with him. Edward was away in Wales, while the eight-year-old Richard was with his elder brother George, staying at Fastolf Place, the vast mansion built by the late Sir John Fastolf in Southwark, across the river from the Tower.

major
battles,
both
fought
within
two
weeks
of
each
other
in
February 1461.
The
victory
of
York's
son
Edward
-
formerly
Earl
of
March, now
himself
Duke
of
York
-
at
Mortimer's
Cross
is
briefly
represented by
the
miraculous
appearance,
to
him
and
his
brother
Richard
(who with
his
other
surviving
brother
George
was
actually
in
the
Low Countries
at
the
time)
of
three
suns
simultaneously
in
the
sky;
while the
second
battle
of
St
Albans,
in
which
the
Lancastrians
had
their revenge,
is
reported
by
Warwick
-
who
had
joined
the
two
princes after
this
last
encounter
-
in
a
single
speech
(II.i.i2off).
At
this
point, as
we
know,
Edward
and
Warwick
marched
on
London,
where
Edward claimed
the
throne
before
heading
northwards
to
meet
the
Lancastrians, returning
to
the
capital
in
May
for
his
coronation
the
following
month; but
Shakespeare
very
sensibly
streamlines
the
action
by
sending
him
off immediately
after
St
Albans,
telescoping
the
two
London
visits
into
one and
bringing
Edward
to
London
only
after
the
victory
of
Towton. This
allows
him
to
build
up
an
impressive
-
if
entirely
unhistorical
— confrontation
scene
at
York
between
Edward,
his
two
brothers
(who were
in
fact
still
in
Holland)
and
Warwick
on
the
one
hand
and
King Henry,
Queen
Margaret
and
the
Lancastrians
on
the
other.
It
is
followed by
the
battle
itself,
which
he
somewhat
uncharacteristically
spreads
over all
four
of
the
remaining
scenes
of
the
act.

The
one
glaring
historical
inaccuracy
in
Shakespeare's
version
of
the
Battle
of
Towton
is
the
continued
presence
of
Edward's
brothers
George and
Richard,
who
were
actually
brought
back
from
Holland
only
in time
for
his
coronation
the
following
June.
The
first
scene
of
the
fight -
in
fact
scene
iii
-
opens
with
Warwick
exhausted,
Edward
and
George in
despair.
Then
Richard
arrives
to
report
the
death
of
Warwick's 'brother'
-
in
fact
his
illegitimate
half-brother,
designated
by
Hall
'the bastard
of
Salisbury'.
The
news
rouses
Warwick
to
fury,
filling
him with
a
desire
for
revenge
which
enables
him
to
breathe
new
spirit
into the
rest.
Next,
in
the
extremely
short
(and
obviously
invented)
scene iv,
we
see
Richard
attacking
Clifford
as
the
man
who
has
killed
both his
brother
Rutland
and
his
father
Richard
of
York;
Clifford,
initially fearless,
flees
with
the
arrival
of
Warwick.

Scene
v
-
which
is
equally
imaginary
and
which,
it
has
been
pointed out,
might
have
been
taken
from
a
medieval
morality
play
-
now introduces
a
completely
different
mood.
Here
we
are
at
the
still
centre of
the
hurricane
with
King
Henry,
seated
on
a
molehill
—
ironically enough,
identical
to
that
on
which
York
had
been
mocked
at
Wakefield —
reflecting
first
on
the
ever-changing
fortunes
of
war
and
then
on
the miserable
lives
of
monarchs
when
compared
to
those
of
the
meanest
of their
subjects.
He
is
joined
by
two
symbolic
figures,
both
illustrative
of the
horrors
of
civil
war:
'a
Son
that
hath
kille
d
his
Father'
and
'a
Father that
hath
kill'd
his
Son'.
He
gives
them
his
sympathy
but
insists
-
with rare
insensitivity
in
the
circumstances
-
that
he
is
ten
times
unhappier than
either
of
them.
He
is
finally
roused
out
of
his
self-pity
by
the arrival
of
his
wife
and
son
with
the
Duke
of
Exeter,
who
urge
him
to flee
with
them
-
for
'Warwick
rages
like
a
chafed
bull'.

The
last
scene
of
the
act
introduces
the
dying
Clifford,
seen
for
the first
time
in
the
play
as
noble
rather
than
vindictive,
lamenting
the overthrow
of
his
beloved
House
of
Lancaster
more
than
his
own imminent
death.
The
three
young
princes
come
upon
him
as
he
expires, and
agree
that
his
head
must
now
replace
their
father's
on
the
battlements of
York.
(Hall
records
that
the
replacement
heads
were
those
of
'the erle
of
Devonshyre
and
iii.
other'.)
The
scene
ends
with
the
victorious princes
leaving
for
London
and
Edward's
coronation,
after
which Warwick
announces
his
intention
of
going
to
France
to
seek
the
hand of
Bona
of
Savoy
on
behalf
of
the
new
King.
Edward
promises
to give
his
brothers
the
dukedoms
of
Clarence
and
Gloucester,
rejecting Richard's
claim
that
'Gloucester's
dukedom
is
too
ominous'
-
a
reference,
presumably,
to
the
fate
of
his
predecessor
Duke
Humphrey
-
and his
request
for
that
of
Clarence
instead.