Original: Why do you rate my Lord of Suffolk thus?
Modern: Why do you criticize my Lord of Suffolk like this?

Original: Although the duke was enemy to him,
Modern: Even though the duke was his enemy,

Original: Yet he most Christian-like laments his death:
Modern: Suffolk still mourns his death like a good Christian:

Original: And for myself, foe as he was to me,
Modern: And as for me, enemy though he was to me,

Original: Might liquid tears or heart-offending groans
Modern: If flowing tears or heart-wrenching groans

Original: Or blood-consuming sighs recall his life,
Modern: Or sighs that drain my very lifeblood could bring him back to life,

Original: I would be blind with weeping, sick with groans,
Modern: I would cry until I couldn’t see, make myself sick with moaning,

Original: Look pale as primrose with blood-drinking sighs,
Modern: Turn as pale as a yellow flower from sighs that suck my blood,

Original: And all to have the noble duke alive.
Modern: And all of this just to have the noble duke alive again.

Original: What know I how the world may deem of me?
Modern: How do I know what the world will think of me?

Original: For it is known we were but hollow friends:
Modern: Since everyone knows we were only fake friends:

Original: It may be judged I made the duke away;
Modern: People might think I had the duke killed;

Original: So shall my name with slander’s tongue be wounded,
Modern: So my reputation will be destroyed by malicious gossip,

Original: And princes’ courts be fill’d with my reproach.
Modern: And royal courts will be full of people blaming me.

Original: This get I by his death: ay me, unhappy!
Modern: This is what I get from his death: oh no, how miserable I am!

Original: To be a queen, and crown’d with infamy!
Modern: To be a queen, but crowned with shame instead of honor!

In Act III, Scene 2 of “Henry VI, Part 2,” King Henry and his court gather at Bury St. Edmunds, where the Duke of Gloucester has been summoned. Suffolk announces that Gloucester has been arrested for high treason and taken into custody. The King expresses shock and disbelief at these charges against his uncle, while Queen Margaret and the other nobles present various accusations against Gloucester, claiming he has abused his power as Lord Protector and plotted against the crown. Despite Henry’s reluctance to believe these allegations, Suffolk, Cardinal Beaufort, York, and others press their case against Gloucester, insisting on his guilt and demanding swift justice.

The King reluctantly agrees to hear the formal charges but remains deeply troubled, praising Gloucester’s past service and virtue. The nobles convince Henry to withdraw while they conduct the examination of Gloucester. After the King exits with some attendants, Suffolk, the Cardinal, and York conspire together, revealing their true intention to have Gloucester murdered rather than face a public trial where his innocence might be proven. They arrange for Suffolk to hire assassins to kill Gloucester in his prison cell. The scene demonstrates the political machinations and corruption at court, as powerful nobles plot to eliminate Gloucester, who stands as an obstacle to their ambitions.

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.