Character Summary

John, Duke of Bedford: Regent of France and uncle to King Henry VI who is accused of procrastinating vis-à-vis the French uprising by Gloucester

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: uncle to the King and Protector of England who accuses both Bedford and Winchester of complacency

Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter : great-uncle to the King who senses England's downfall throughout the play

Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester: Cardinal and great-uncle to the King who holds a grudge against the Lord Protector Gloucester

Messengers: three messengers who appear consecutively to deliver bad news regarding the English stronghold of France

Charles:France’s Dauphin who later becomes the King of France

Duke of Alencon: one of Charles’ most trusted men along with Reignier

Reignier: Duke of Anjou, and titular King of Naples who agrees to have his daughter Margaret wedded to King Henry VI

Bastard of Orleans: the man who introduces the French nobles to their savior Joan of Arc

Joan La Pucelle: a lowly shepherd who becomes the savior of France

Warders: a couple of stewards guarding the Tower

Servingmen: assistants attending on the Duke of Gloucester

Woodville: Lieutenant of the Tower who, upon Winchester’s authority, bars Gloucester from entering the Tower

Mayor of London: the Mayor who mediates on behalf of Gloucester and Winchester who are practically at one another’s throat

Master-Gunner of Orleans: a French soldier who orders his son to try to do what he has not been able to do himself: sabotage the English ability to spy from a particular lookout post

Boy: son of the Master-Gunner of Orleans who succeeds in sabotaging an English attempt to spy on the French

Earl of Salisbury: next to Talbot, England most valiant soldier fighting in France

Sir Thomas Gargrave: an English noble who suffers a grave injury along with Salisbury while they and Talbot try to survey the field from a certain vantage point which vantage point has proven to be profitable up to that point

Sergeant: a French sergeant who orders a sentinel to keep a sharp lookout of Orleans

Sentinel: French sentinel who consents to do as his sergeant asks but isn’t too happy about it

Duke of Burgundy: English ally who changes his allegiance to the French on account of Joan La Pucelle's persuasive words

Soldier: an English soldier who raises the alarm of Talbot’s approach, sending the French scurrying and allowing him to steal their effects which are left behind

Richard Plantagenet: son of Richard the late Earl of Cambridge who becomes the Duke of York and is the leader of the white rose faction

Earl of Suffolk: aka William de la Pole, he aligns himself with Somerset and the red rose faction and manages to persuade the King to marry Reignier's daughter Margaret, with whom Suffolk himself is in love with, so that he--Suffolk--might control the throne through Margaret

Earl of Warwick: chief supporter of Plantagenet and the white rose faction

Duke of Somerset: the chief supporter of the House of Lancaster and the red rose faction

Vernon: a supporter of the white rose or York faction

Edmund Mortimer: the Earl of March who was next in line to Richard II only to be imprisoned by the Lancastrians

Gaoler 1: Mortimer’s jailer

King Henry Sixth: the boy King of the late King Henry V

Sir John Falstaff: a fat, cowardly English knight

Captain: an English Captain who witnesses Falstaff’s cowardice first-hand

Basset: a lawyer who is of the red rose faction and is at odds with Vernon

General: general of the French forces in Bordeaux who defies Talbot’s command to surrender and for good reason as he has the advantage

Sir William Lucy: an English knight serving under Talbot who is dispatched to seek aid from the Dukes of York and Somerset

John Talbot: Lord Talbot’s son who refuses to flee so that he might fight by his father’s side

Legate: the Pope’s representative who delivers Winchester his cardinal’s robe

Scout: a French scout who reports of the English resolve to oppose the French even after Talbot’s demise

Margaret: daughter to Reignier who eventually marries King Henry VI

Shepherd: Joan La Pucelle’s father who curses her daughter when she denies that her parentage comes from such a lowly stock