SOURCE: "3 Henry VI: Kinship," in Patterns of Decay: Shakespeare's Early Histories, University Press of Virginia, 1975, pp. 53-74.

In the essay below, Berry contends that 3 Henry VI offers a deeply ironic view of Henry's kingship, for it depicts him as saintlike and empathetic on the one hand yet irresponsible and self indulgent on the other. The critic also examines the theme of family loyalty in the play, particularly the connection between the corruption of traditional ideals of kinship and the disintegration of political and social order.

Samuel Johnson probably had 3 Henry VI in mind when he complained that the Henry VI plays "have not sufficient variety of action, for the incidents are too often of the same kind." 1 Of the play's twenty-eight scenes, twelve take place on the battlefield, and the remainder consist for the most part of challenges and counterchallenges, rallying and reassembling of forces—the menacing banalities...