Original: Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirt
Modern: Yes, you’re like a gutter, a muddy puddle, a cesspool—your corruption and filth

Original: Troubles the silver spring where England drinks.
Modern: Pollutes the pure water source that England depends on.

Original: Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth
Modern: Now I’m going to shut your wide-open mouth

Original: For swallowing the treasure of the realm:
Modern: For stealing and devouring the kingdom’s wealth:

Original: Thy lips that kiss’d the queen shall sweep the ground;
Modern: Your lips that once kissed the queen will now be dragging in the dirt;

Original: And thou that smiledst at good Duke Humphrey’s death,
Modern: And you who smiled when good Duke Humphrey died,

Original: Against the senseless winds shalt grin in vain,
Modern: Will grin uselessly at the uncaring winds,

Original: Who in contempt shall hiss at thee again:
Modern: Which will only hiss back at you with scorn:

Original: And wedded be thou to the hags of hell,
Modern: And may you be married to the witches of hell,

Original: For daring to affy a mighty lord
Modern: For daring to betroth a powerful nobleman

Original: Unto the daughter of a worthless king,
Modern: To the daughter of a worthless king,

Original: Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem.
Modern: Who has no people to rule, no money, and no real crown.

Original: By devilish policy art thou grown great,
Modern: Through evil scheming you’ve risen to power,

Original: And, like ambitious Sylla, overgorged
Modern: And, like the ambitious Roman dictator Sulla, you’ve stuffed yourself

Original: With gobbets of thy mother’s bleeding heart.
Modern: With chunks of your own mother country’s suffering heart.

Original: By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France,
Modern: Because of you, the territories of Anjou and Maine were given away to France,

Original: The false revolting Normans thorough thee
Modern: The traitorous, rebellious Normans, because of you,

Original: Disdain to call us lord, and Picardy
Modern: Refuse to call us their ruler, and the people of Picardy

Original: Hath slain their governors, surprised our forts,
Modern: Have killed their English governors, attacked our fortresses by surprise,

Original: And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home.
Modern: And sent our battered, wounded soldiers limping back home.

Original: The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,
Modern: The noble Warwick and all the Neville family,

Original: Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in vain,
Modern: Whose fearsome swords have never been raised without purpose,

Original: As hating thee, are rising up in arms:
Modern: Because they hate you, are now preparing for war:

Original: And now the house of York, thrust from the crown
Modern: And now the York family, pushed away from the throne

Original: By shameful murder of a guiltless king
Modern: By the disgraceful murder of an innocent king

Original: And lofty proud encroaching tyranny,
Modern: And by arrogant, overreaching tyranny,

Original: Burns with revenging fire; whose hopeful colours
Modern: Burns with the fire of revenge; whose promising battle flags

Original: Advance our half-faced sun, striving to shine,
Modern: Display our symbol of the sun emerging from clouds, struggling to shine,

Original: Under the which is writ ‘Invitis nubibus.’
Modern: Under which is written “Despite the clouds” in Latin.

Original: The commons here in Kent are up in arms:
Modern: The common people here in Kent have risen up in rebellion:

Original: And, to conclude, reproach and beggary
Modern: And, in summary, disgrace and poverty

Original: Is crept into the palace of our king.
Modern: Have infiltrated our king’s own palace.

Original: And all by thee. Away! convey him hence.
Modern: And it’s all because of you. Go! Take him away from here.

Henry VI, Part II opens with King Henry VI’s marriage to Margaret of Anjou, which was arranged as part of a peace treaty with France. The marriage proves politically disastrous, as Henry has agreed to surrender Maine and Anjou to France and provide no dowry, angering the English nobles. The Duke of Gloucester, Henry’s uncle and Lord Protector, opposes the marriage terms, while Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Suffolk, who arranged the marriage, work to undermine Gloucester’s influence. Queen Margaret quickly emerges as an ambitious figure who resents Gloucester’s power and begins plotting against him alongside Suffolk and other nobles.

The central conflict develops around the destruction of Gloucester, known as “Good Duke Humphrey.” Through a series of machinations involving his wife Eleanor’s involvement with conjurers and fortune-tellers, Gloucester is stripped of his position as Lord Protector. Eleanor is banished after being convicted of witchcraft, leaving Gloucester vulnerable. Margaret, Suffolk, Cardinal Beaufort, and others conspire to have Gloucester arrested on charges of treason. Before he can defend himself in trial, Gloucester is murdered in his bed, likely on Suffolk’s orders, shocking King Henry and the common people who loved Gloucester.

The aftermath of Gloucester’s murder destabilizes the realm further. Suffolk is banished by Henry after popular outcry against him, but he is captured and killed by pirates during his exile. Cardinal Beaufort dies tormented by guilt over Gloucester’s death. Meanwhile, Jack Cade leads a popular rebellion in Kent, claiming to be John Mortimer and demanding justice for the common people. Cade’s forces march on London, causing chaos and executing several nobles and officials before the rebellion is eventually suppressed. The play concludes with the return of Richard, Duke of York, from Ireland with an army, ostensibly to remove the remaining “traitors” around the king but actually to press his own claim to the throne, setting the stage for the Wars of the Roses that will dominate the final play in the trilogy.