The cast of Henry VI, Part 1
The people who make Henry VI, Part 1 move — what they want, who they love, who they hate, and how each one fits the story. Tap any name to read more.
Talbot
Legendary English warrior, aging commander of forces in France, defender of England's honor · Elderly
Joan la Pucelle
Cross-dressed warrior and enchantress; claimed saint and revealed fraud · Young woman, unmarried
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
Lord Protector of the young King; voice of martial duty and institutional loyalty, opposed by ecclesiastical ambition · Middle-aged
Suffolk
Ambitious English nobleman and diplomatic architect of the king's marriage; agent of internal political dissolution
Charles, the Dauphin
French prince and military leader; Dauphin of France · Young man, early twenties (implied)
King Henry VI
Boy-king caught between warring councillors; passive inheritor of his father's legendary realm · Child to young man
Richard, Duke of York
Ambitious nobleman and future claimant to the throne; catalyst of the Wars of the Roses · Adult
Duke of Somerset
Ambitious nobleman and rival to York; instrument of England's military collapse
Richard Plantagenet
Dispossessed nobleman and rising political player whose dignity is restored through royal favor · Young man
Bishop of Winchester (later Cardinal)
Ambitious ecclesiastical power-broker and rival to Gloucester
Reignier, Duke of Anjou
French nobleman and military commander; father to Margaret · Middle-aged
The Earl of Warwick
Diplomatic mediator and loyal counselor; arbiter of noble disputes · Middle-aged (inferred)
Margaret of Anjou
French princess bride, catalyst for England's political collapse · Young woman
John, Duke of Bedford
Regent of France; aging war hero and moral anchor of the English cause · Elderly; dying
Duke of Alençon
French nobleman and military commander allied with the Dauphin
Duke of Burgundy
Powerful regional ally, caught between English and French loyalty
Messenger
Herald bearing news of war and defeat from France
Sir William Lucy
English messenger and herald; voice of England's military honor and the realm's betrayal
Countess of Auvergne
French noblewoman who attempts to capture Talbot through deception
Bastard of Orleans
French military commander and ally of Charles
Exeter
Earl of Warwick; loyal counselor to the King and guardian of young Henry VI
Vernon
Loyal follower of the Duke of York; advocate for truth in the Temple garden dispute
John Talbot
Young son of the legendary warrior Talbot; a boy caught between duty and survival
Edmund Mortimer
Dying nobleman and Plantagenet heir, imprisoned for his bloodline claim · elderly, near death
Basset
Young Somerset's attendant and champion; defender of the red rose in the Temple Garden quarrel
Hear every line of Henry VI, Part 1, narrated.
