View a FREE sample

Act 1, Scene 1

• In a series of wittily written confrontations, the characters manipulate each other like pieces on a chessboard, constantly seeking weaknesses in each other and jockeying for advantage.

• By the end of the play the situation is the same as when it started--nothing has been resolved, but everybody, including the audience, has enjoyed the game.

• Alais says she's going to stay in her room and Henry can send up reports of what's happening; Henry does not want more enemies, although she is not taken seriously by anyone else, and he says he has loved no mistress but her.

• Henry has kept Eleanor imprisoned for 10 years and is curious to see how she's aged; Henry talks about his and Eleanor's differing plans for their kingdom.

• Part of Henry's agreement with Alais' brother, King Philip of France, she is to marry the heir to the throne or else Henry...

(read more Chapter Abstracts)

This section contains 3,119 words (approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample