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Act 2, Scene 2
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Henry VI Part 2, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ambition
Nobles vs. Commoners
Religion and Politics
Patriotism
Magic
Summary
Analysis
As trumpets play, King Henry, Queen Margaret, Gloucester, and other lords stand in judgment over the Duchess, Margery Jourdain, Bolingbroke, Hume, and Southwell. Though Henry condemns the Duchess’s non-aristocratic accomplices to death, he commutes her sentence to three days of public “penance,” followed by exile. Gloucester tells the Duchess that he agrees with the judgment, but after she is taken away, he miserably asks permission from Henry to leave. Henry asks Gloucester first to surrender the staff that signals his protectorship—a request that Margaret eagerly seconds. Gloucester puts the staff at Henry’s feet, wishes him well, and leaves. Margaret declares that she and Henry are really rulers now that Gloucester has lost his wife and his staff.
The Duchess escapes execution because she is an aristocrat, while her non-aristocratic accomplices are killed. This outcome reminds the audience that, in the play’s world, aristocrats receive preferential treatment under the law as well as social status, political influence, and so forth. When Henry asks Gloucester for his staff, symbolically stripping Gloucester of his status as Lord Protector, it communicates that Gloucester’s enemies have succeeded in taking him down politically by manipulating his wife’s ambitions.
Active
Themes
York reminds Henry that it’s time for trial-by-combat between Peter and Horner. Henry orders the combatants brought in and hopes that “God defend the right!” Horner, drunk, is brought in by his neighbors, who keep toasting him. Peter is brought in by fellow apprentices, who likewise toast him. When one apprentice asks Peter to fight for them all, a terrified Peter asks his friends to pray for him. The lords signal the start of combat—and, unexpectedly, Peter deals Horner a fatal blow. Horner, dying, admits to “treason.” Henry declares that, through Peter’s victory, God has shown Peter’s innocence and Horner’s guilt.
