Queen Margaret: The Real Power Behind the Throne
First appears: Act 1, Scene 1
Margaret arrives from France as Henry's new queen and quickly grasps what the English court is: a competition she intends to win. She and Suffolk run political affairs between them while Henry prays and listens to sermons.
She attacks the Duchess of Gloucester physically in Act 1. She is responsible, with Suffolk, for engineering Gloucester's arrest and eventual murder. She is ruthless in a way that Henry cannot manage and will not sanction.
Her grief over Suffolk's death in Act 3, when she carries his severed head, is one of Shakespeare's most extreme expressions of love. She does not apologise for any of it.
Key Scenes
Famous Quotes
“Could I come near your beauty with my nails, I'd set my ten commandments in your face.”
Queen Margaret — Act 1, Scene 3
Themes
Other Characters in Henry VI, Part II
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