This Son Of York

This Son of York

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Dr. Tsai's blog: “Son of York”: The best pun in literature

The York family is strong and the two eldest sons, Edward and Edmund are approaching manhood. Edward, bold and eager, is keen to leave his childhood behind and enter the world of men, of politics, combat and love. Edmund, the younger brother is more introspective and struggles to project his public image.

Both boys look to York as their mentor, a match for any king; and Richard is proud of them both. But with sons comes the question of inheritance. His own son, the young Prince Edward, or the capable York and his heirs? This historical window into the past lifts figures from the history books and gives the personality and purpose behind their actions.

The story bears witness to the extremes of the human condition, from loving tenderness in court to vengeful violence on the battlefield. Kindle Edition , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Son of York , please sign up. Lists with This Book. May 11, Amalia Gavea rated it liked it Shelves: In a land where most monarchs have made their mark- in a positive or negative way- his popularity certainly speaks for itself.

His life, marriage and political acuteness have made him a figure that inspired some of the finest lines by Shakespeare in Richard III and became the focus of many books in the Historical fiction genre. He married Elizabeth Woodville, causing a great scandal and produced many children who became notable figures in English History. He was believed to be an expert in strategic matters and he brought order to the realms after the long feud between the Houses of York and Lancaster. He was a lover of the Arts and acquired a significant collection manuscripts.

See a Problem?

Now, this very important man surely provides the material for a good Historical novel, doesn't he? Well, the answer is yes. We find ourselves in , when Edward is a boy of thirteen. He is the fearless, fiery, abrupt son of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily, while his favourite brother, Edmund, is the dreamer, the sensible one, the voice of reason.

The focus of the story is the way this young man became a king and I found that very clever. The young boy who became king shows all the signs of his future self and Licence creates a very believable,well-composed Edward. All the characters that are in the centre of the narration are interesting and realistically portrayed and the historical events are depicted extremely accurately. This was a very welcome change from what usually happens in books, films and TV series that decide to butcher well-established historical characters just for the sake of viewership and readership.

The fact that Licence is a historian certainly helped in retaining a level of historical accuracy that is respectable. The battles and tournament scenes are impactful and well-written and I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Loveday, an event that has always intrigued me. The romance element is not overwhelming, but it is there and it isn't successful, in my opinion. The women Edward is interested in are not interesting or memorable at all.

On the contrary, a relationship that is well-structured and consistent is the one between Richard and Cecily who was my favourite character in the novel. So, why 3 stars? Now, with Historical Fiction, language is a difficult thing to master. It may appear pompous or inappropriately modern.

Here, it was a mediocre combination of the two. I had many problems with it, to be honest. From the early stages of the story,the dialogue seems wooden and uninspired, as if the writer took pieces of sentences from The Tudors -or any other pseudo-historical TV shows and films with dubious historical accuracy- and created this. In addition, she attempts to remind the readers of past events by including them in the dialogue only a few pages after said events have taken place right before our eyes.

The constant bickering between York and Edward over matters that have been discussed again and again was too tiring and the frequent use of the phrase ''she-devil'' to refer to Margaret of Anjou was extremely bothersome. It was a pity, really, because the descriptive passages were well-composed, presenting facts naturally and not as a History lesson and the pace was consistent throughout.

May 21, Christian rated it liked it Shelves: For the full review and more, visit my blog The Son of York tells the story of the transition from king Henry VI, whose reign has been particular unsteady as he suffered from a mysterious illness leaving him bed-bound and unfit to rule in irregular intervals, to king Edward IV. In those times, when king Henry was unfit to rule, his cousin and one of the most powerful nobles Richard of York stepped in and temporarily governed in his place. The rivals of the House of York, namely the faction lead b For the full review and more, visit my blog The Son of York tells the story of the transition from king Henry VI, whose reign has been particular unsteady as he suffered from a mysterious illness leaving him bed-bound and unfit to rule in irregular intervals, to king Edward IV.

This wariness was further increased as Richard proved to be an able leader and seemingly was more capable than the King himself. In this uncertain and heated environment Richard of York and his allies particularly his cousin the Earl of Warwick feel unjustly treated for their loyal service. In the Son of York, Richard regularly finds himself in the position to take arms against the Lancasters and the Queen in order to defend his position at court and his family. Especially his two eldest sons Edward and Edmund are eager to prove themselves worthy of their House.

In the erupting conflict, Edward earns a great reputation as a military strategist and diplomat when dealing with other noblemen. After both his father and younger brother Edmund are killed by the Lancasters, Edward directs his rage against his enemies and reaches out to defend his right to the throne of England. I really enjoyed the good narration of the historical facts, however the scenes described are rather short especially in the beginning.

So, I felt like being on fast-forward through the historical events instead of being gripped by a well-laid-out story. In particular, the dialogs seem too stiff and repetitive. Mostly these feature the events that have been described only too briefly in the story which made them rather unrealistic considering the turbulent environment, especially when the young children talk among themselves and with their mother.

In conclusion, I really liked the different perspective on the Wars of the Roses, which is an exciting time of British history. The narration was really good, even though too brief in places, which prevented me to be drawn into the story. While especially the development of the characters and their relationships, as well as the dialogs were rather weak, I still liked the book and believe it to be a good addition to the historical fiction genre covering this part of history. May 28, Alexandra rated it really liked it Shelves: If you're a fan of Philippa Gregory's writing, then Son of York is definitely for you.

Licence's prose is swift and cinematic - she paints clear pictures of scenes and characters that could very well lend themselves to the screen. Her writing is very present and has a good sense of flow, and I appreciated how Licence often imparts historical information via dialogue - having us learn the latest court intrigues and alliances that will My thanks to the author and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Her writing is very present and has a good sense of flow, and I appreciated how Licence often imparts historical information via dialogue - having us learn the latest court intrigues and alliances that will shape the Yorkists' fate alongside the characters.

The Winter of Our Discontent

In this very present and absorbing narration, we see how political winds shift at the slightest provocations, sending the Duke of York's family headlong into war against combatants supporting the ailing Henry VI and his powerful French queen, Margaret of Anjou. Eventually, the two families' battle over dynastic claims shifts from debate in council chambers to combat in the field, and the Duke's eldest son Edward finds himself growing into manhood against this hostile backdrop.

We witness him go from a boy shunning his lessons, to a teenager entering into an affair with a young married woman no doubt a precursor to his philandering ways later in life , to an exile in France, all the way to the head of his household back on English soil, leading armies to support his family's claim to the throne.

All the while, Licence's exploration of the relationship between Edward and his brother Edmund - younger by a year and growing up in Edward's shadow - really piqued my interest. Richard is soon unhorsed on the field at the climax of the battle, and cries out, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse! It is believed to have been written c. A second Quarto Q2 followed in , printed by Thomas Creede for Andrew Wise, containing an attribution to Shakespeare on its title page. The First Folio version followed in The Folio is longer than the Quarto and contains some fifty additional passages amounting to more than two hundred lines.

However, the Quarto contains some twenty-seven passages amounting to about thirty-seven lines that are absent from the Folio. At one time, it was thought that the Quarto represented a separate revision of the play by Shakespeare. However, since the Quarto contains many changes that can only be regarded as mistakes, it is now widely believed that the Quarto was produced by memorial reconstruction. It is unknown why the actors did this, but it may have been to replace a missing prompt book.

Unlike his previous tragedy Titus Andronicus , the play avoids graphic demonstrations of physical violence; only Richard and Clarence are shown being stabbed on-stage, while the rest the two princes, Hastings, Brackenbury, Grey, Vaughan, Rivers, Anne, Buckingham, and King Edward all meet their ends off-stage. Despite the villainous nature of the title character and the grim storyline, Shakespeare infuses the action with comic material, as he does with most of his tragedies.

Much of the humour rises from the dichotomy between how Richard's character is known and how Richard tries to appear.

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Richard himself also provides some dry remarks in evaluating the situation, as when he plans to marry Queen Elizabeth's daughter: One of the central themes of Richard III is the idea of fate, especially as it is seen through the tension between free will and fatalism in Richard's actions and speech, as well as the reactions to him by other characters. This influence, especially as it relates to the role of divine punishment in Richard's rule of England, reaches its height in the voice of Margaret.

Janis Lull suggests that "Margaret gives voice to the belief, encouraged by the growing Calvinism of the Elizabethan era, that individual historical events are determined by God, who often punishes evil with apparent evil". Scholar Victor Kiernan writes that this interpretation is a perfect fit with the English social perspective of Shakespeare's day: However, historical fatalism is merely one side of the argument of fate versus free will.

It is also possible that Shakespeare intended to portray Richard as "a personification of the Machiavellian view of history as power politics". Kiernan also presents this side of the coin, noting that Richard "boasts to us of his finesse in dissembling and deception with bits of Scripture to cloak his 'naked villainy' I.

Machiavelli , as Shakespeare may want us to realise, is not a safe guide to practical politics". Kiernan suggests that Richard is merely acting as if God is determining his every step in a sort of Machiavellian manipulation of religion as an attempt to circumvent the moral conscience of those around him. Therefore, historical determinism is merely an illusion perpetrated by Richard's assertion of his own free will. However, though it seems Richard views himself as completely in control, Lull suggests that Shakespeare is using Richard to state "the tragic conception of the play in a joke.

His primary meaning is that he controls his own destiny. His pun also has a second, contradictory meaning—that his villainy is predestined—and the strong providentialism of the play ultimately endorses this meaning". Literary critic Paul Haeffner writes that Shakespeare had a great understanding of language and the potential of every word he used. The first definition is used to express a "gentle and loving" man, which Clarence uses to describe his brother Richard to the murderers that were sent to kill him.

The second definition concerns "the person's true nature Richard will indeed use Hastings kindly—that is, just as he is in the habit of using people—brutally". Haeffner also writes about how speech is written. He compares the speeches of Richmond and Richard to their soldiers. He describes Richmond's speech as "dignified" and formal, while Richard's speech is explained as "slangy and impetuous". However, Lull does not make the comparison between Richmond and Richard as Haeffner does, but between Richard and the women in his life. However, it is important to the women share the formal language that Richmond uses.

She makes the argument that the difference in speech "reinforces the thematic division between the women's identification with the social group and Richard's individualism". Janis Lull also takes special notice of the mourning women. She suggests that they are associated with "figures of repetition as anaphora—beginning each clause in a sequence with the same word—and epistrophe—repeating the same word at the end of each clause". Haeffner refers to these as few of many "devices and tricks of style" that occur in the play, showcasing Shakespeare's ability to bring out the potential of every word.

Throughout the play, Richard's character constantly changes and shifts and, in doing so, alters the dramatic structure of the story. Richard immediately establishes a connection with the audience with his opening monologue. In the soliloquy he admits his amorality to the audience but at the same time treats them as if they were co-conspirators in his plotting; one may well be enamored of his rhetoric [11] while being appalled by his actions. However, Richard pretends to be Clarence's friend, falsely reassuring him by saying, "I will deliver you, or else lie for you" 1.

Mooney describes Richard as occupying a "figural position"; he is able to move in and out of it by talking with the audience on one level, and interacting with other characters on another. Each scene in Act I is book-ended by Richard directly addressing the audience. This action on Richard's part not only keeps him in control of the dramatic action of the play, but also of how the audience sees him: Like Vice, Richard is able to render what is ugly and evil—his thoughts and aims, his view of other characters—into what is charming and amusing for the audience.

However, after Act I, the number and quality of Richard's asides to the audience decrease significantly, as well as multiple scenes are interspersed that do not include Richard at all, [12]: Without Richard guiding the audience through the dramatic action, the audience is left to evaluate for itself what is going on.

When Richard enters to bargain with Queen Elizabeth for her daughter's hand—a scene whose form echoes the same rhythmically quick dialogue as the Lady Anne scene in Act I—he has lost his vivacity and playfulness for communication; it is obvious he is not the same man. By the end of Act IV everyone else in the play, including Richard's own mother, the Duchess, has turned against him. He does not interact with the audience nearly as much, and the inspiring quality of his speech has declined into merely giving and requiring information.

As Richard gets closer to seizing the crown, he encloses himself within the world of the play; no longer embodying his facile movement in and out of the dramatic action, he is now stuck firmly within it. Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt notes how Richard even refers to himself as "the formal Vice, Iniquity" 3. Richmond is a clear contrast to Richard's evil character, which makes the audience see him as such.

Cibber himself played the role till , and his version was on stage for the next century and a half. It contained the lines "Off with his head; so much for Buckingham" — possibly the most famous Shakespearean line that Shakespeare did not write — and "Richard's himself again! The original Shakespearean version returned in a production at Sadler's Wells Theatre in McKellen's film is directly based on an earlier stage production set in a Nazified England of the s, which toured Europe for six years to sell-out crowds prior to being shortly thereafter adapted to film.

McKellen wrote the screenplay for his film version, although he did not direct it. Olivier played Richard on stage for quite a few years in the s before making a film of it in His film performance, if not the production as a whole, is heavily based on his earlier stage rendition. The Al Pacino film Looking for Richard is a documentary of rehearsals of specific scenes from the play, and a meditation on the play's significance.

Pacino had played the role on stage 15 years earlier. In , well-known film actor Kevin Spacey starred in an Old Vic production which subsequently toured the United States, directed by well-known stage and film director Sam Mendes. No plans for a film version have been announced. Spacey had played the role of Richard's henchman, the Duke of Buckingham, in the Pacino film. The film was later remade by Roger Corman in with Vincent Price in the lead role. The most famous player of the part in recent times was Laurence Olivier in his film version.

Olivier's film incorporates a few scenes and speeches from Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 3 and Cibber's rewrite of Shakespeare's play, but cuts entirely the characters of Queen Margaret and the Duchess of York, and Richard's soliloquy after seeing the ghosts of his victims. In other projects Wikimedia Commons. This page was last edited on 27 November , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. As descendants of the sovereign in the male line the dukes of York bore the arms of the kingdom differentiated by a label argent of three points, each bearing three torteaux gules.

Richard III of England. Edward of Middleham , Prince of Wales. Edward III — r. Edward The Black Prince — Lionel of Antwerp Duke of Clarence — John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster — Edmund of Langley Duke of York — Richard II — r. Edmund Mortimer Earl of March — Philippa Css of Ulster — Edward of Norwich Duke of York — Roger Mortimer Earl of March — Edmund Mortimer Earl of March Anne de Mortimer — Richard of York Duke of York — Edward IV — 1st r.

Son of York

Edmund Earl of Rutland — George Plantagenet Duke of Clarence — Richard III — r. Henry VII — r. Elizabeth of York — Richard of York —? Edward Plantagenet Earl of Warwick Edward of Middleham Pr. Henry VIII — r. Edmund of Langley House of York founder — Isabella of Castile 3 children Joan de Holland ca. Edward of Norwich — Philippa de Mohun c. Cecily Neville 13 children.

Elizabeth Woodville 1 May 10 children. Elizabeth Woodville Grafton Regis 1 May 10 children [4]. Edward V 9 April—25 June [5]. Richard III 26 June — [7].

Anne Neville Westminster Abbey 12 July 1 son [8]. Lionel of Antwerp , Duke of Clarence. Quarterly, 1st and 4th, France ancien, 2nd and 3rd England, with a label of three points Argent each charged with a canton Gules [12]. Elizabeth de Burgh , Countess of Ulster. Or, a cross Gules de Burgh [12]. Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence; — Philippa of Clarence , Countess of Ulster. Quarterly, 1st and 4th, France ancien, 2nd and 3rd England, with a label of three points Argent each charged with a canton Gules, impaling, Barry of six, Or and Azure, on a chief two pales, the corners gyronny, overall an escutcheon Argent [13].

Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March; — Edmund Mortimer , Earl of March. Barry of six, Or and Azure, on a chief two pales, the corners gyronny, overall an escutcheon Argent Mortimer [13]. Roger Mortimer , Earl of March. Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Barry of six, Or and Azure, on a chief two pales, the corners gyronny, overall an escutcheon Argent Mortimer , 2nd and 3rd Or, a cross Gules de Burgh [13]. Alianore Holland , Countess of March.

Gules, three lions passant guardant Or, within a bordure Argent Kent [13]. Roger Mortimer, Earl of March; — Anne Mortimer , Countess of Cambridge. Quarterly, 1st and 4th, France moderne, 2nd and 3rd England, with a label of three points Argent each point charged with three torteaux Gules, within a bordure Argent charged with lions rampant purpure, impaling, Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Barry of six, Or and Azure, on a chief two pales, the corners gyronny, overall an escutcheon Argent Mortimer , 2nd and 3rd Or, a cross Gules de Burgh [13].

Edmund of Langley , Duke of York. Quarterly, 1st and 4th, France ancien, 2nd and 3rd England, with a label of three points Argent each point charged with three torteaux Gules [14]. Quarterly, Castille and Leon Kingdom of Castille [14]. Edmund of Langley, Duke of York; —

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