![]() ![]() The speech may remind some of the speech ‘Hath a Jew eyes’ in The Merchant of Venice, though the context is utterly different.” 4. He wants not only to insist on the common humanity but to do so because they are skeptical about the king’s motives. “The context is their cynicism, too,” says Paster, “since they expect he will let himself be taken for ransom, and they are too low to be eligible. It’s the night before a big battle, and in talking with the men in his army, he’s reminding them that the king is not immune to the fears they feel. King Henry is in disguise when he speaks these words. His ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man.” All his senses have but human conditions. The element shows to him as it doth to me. The violet smells to him as it doth to me. Watch Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear perform this emotional scene scene in a clip from The Hollow Crown: Richard II. He may be relinquishing his power and position, but his griefs and cares remain. You may my glories and my state depose but not my griefs still am I king of those.”Īs Richard II speaks these words, he is handing his crown over to Bolingbroke. “My crown I am, but still my griefs are mine. “The sleep which is so important (they felt and we feel) to health is not for him, alas.” 2. “Maybe more suffering from insomnia – really sleepless, feeling guilty,” says Paster. ![]() “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”Īt a time of night when most of his subjects are asleep, the king is up and busy about his affairs. These six quotes touch on what it means to be a king, the power of the law, what separates royal from common, and speaking truth to authority.įolger Director Emerita Gail Kern Paster provides some additional insight into the context of each quote. Shakespeare has a lot to say about power and politics in his plays.
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