attempting to encourage Elizabeth to see the older values that they represent as the ones the Tudors should emulate . In the process that leads to the downfall of this “ Good Humphrey ” of Gloucester , England is reduced to a jungle ( emphasized through recurring use of animal imagery ) where all are at one another ’ s throats for survival and self-sustenance .
Gloucester ’ s last words will reverberate throughout the rest of the cycle . For one last time , he warns his nephew , King Henry VI , that by throwing away his “ crutch ” before he can walk on his own he is asking for a nasty tumble . As the “ shepherd ” goes absent , the rapacious “ wolves ” will tear the flock apart . Doom hangs over Henry ’ s and by that England ’ s head :
Ah ! thus King Henry throws away his crutch Before his legs be firm to bear his body . Thus is the shepherd beaten from thy side , And wolves are gnarling who shall gnaw thee first . Ah , that my fear were false ! ah , that it were ! For , good King Henry , thy decay I fear .( Act 3 , Scene 1 )
Henry VI , Part 3 and Richard III constitute the climax of the history cycle by demonstrating the effects of the residual in different but also similar ways . Henry VI , Part 3 is the story of a horrendous civil war which takes place first and foremost as a result of the eponymous king ’ s incompetence mostly stemming from his religiophilosophical introversion as well as his lack of a strong claim to the throne as a residue of what his grandfather did a couple of generations before . Through this play , it seems that Shakespeare is trying to say to Elizabeth that the peace and stability of the realm are heavily invested in the
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