Clifford (3 Henry VI)

Play

Henry VI, Part 3

Summary

Lord Clifford is the ferocious Lancastrian knight who has sworn personal vengeance on the House of York for the death of his father at the first Battle of St Albans. He murders York's teenage son Rutland in cold blood and then York himself, embracing a philosophy of absolute political ruthlessness. His own death at the Battle of Towton — discovered already dead with an arrow in his neck — is one of the play's ironies.

Notable Quotations

"Had I thy brethren here, their lives and thine / Were not revenge sufficient for me; / No, if I digg'd up thy forefathers' graves / And hung their rotten coffins up in chains, / It could not slake mine ire, nor ease my heart." *(1.3)*

"Clifford, devised it to prevent the rage / That might arise on notice of my master's part." *(2.2)*

"In dreadful war may'st thou be overcome, / Or live in peace abandon'd and despis'd!" *(2.2)*

Cross-references

• Henry VI, Part 3 — the play
• York (3 Henry VI) — his great enemy, whom he kills
• Queen Margaret — his Lancastrian leader
• King Henry VI — the king he serves
• Histories