The Question of the Usurpation and the Cycle of Order and Disorder

Shakespeare wrote ten plays on medieval English history. Eight of them mostly involve the questions of usurpation, and all of them deal with the principle of order, and in many cases disorder. This thesis proves that through Shakespeare?s Histories he brings about all the usurpation scenarios that existed in the pre-Tudor period, the development of disorder and the final restoration of order. As it has been presented The First Part of Henry VI deals with some kind of stable order, with its sings of future disturbance, in The Second Part of Henry VI the playwright brings the play at the edge of chaos, and in the third part to total chaos therefore builds up an atmosphere for an established chaos in Richard III which, self-evidently, will turn into order again. But it is depicted that even in the most extensive disorder we can find a larger principle of order. Proof for this is in 3 Henry VI, II scene 5, where Henry establishes an order in the life of a shepherd which is contrastedwith the chaos at the battlefield. I have tried to take the characters, who contributed to all these happenings, into consideration. I have given special attention to the Duke of York because he is the one who brings up the question of the usurpation theme and thus starts the chain of events, which goes throughout the four plays. Margaret is also important because she is a dominant, brave and proud woman who is in charge of making real decisions. Undoubtedly Richard is extremely important because he represents the real villain and the great and witty actor. His character emerged not only from the literary saga of Richard III, but also from dramatic tradition that, by Shakespeare?s time, included the Senecan tyrant, the stage Machiavel, and the vice-figure of the English Morality plays. If we wish to mystify the debate of usurpation, the answer is also given by Gloucester in 3 Henry VI when he kills him and nothing happens hence proves that Henry VI did possess a usurped crown.