339.
nooooooooooooooooo!!! as if today wasn't hard enough! i am totally wiped out, got to my reading way too late, and what happened? the worst thing! i am mourning the loss. my favorite Shakespearean character that we've read so far was tragically murdered in today's reading. whyyyy?!?! i can't even deal.
okay here we go:
Murderer: we killed Gloucester!
Suffolk: i will reward you for your work. did you cover up the evidence?
Murderer: yup.
(exit Murderers, enter Henry, Margaret, Cardinal, Somerset, etc.)
Henry: where's Gloucester? let's do this trial and hopefully find him not guilty.
Suffolk: ok. i will go get him.
(Suffolk exits and re-enters)
Henry: what's wrong?
Suffolk: he's dead in his bed.
Cardinal: it was 'God's secret judgement' that killed him.
(Henry passes out and soon after comes to.)
Henry: get away from me, Suffolk. while i was passed out, i had a vision that you killed Gloucester!
Margaret: why would you accuse Suffolk? he looks like he's grieving to me. i didn't like Gloucester either, and everyone will probably hate me for it. (see quote below.) poor me. wah. you loved Gloucester more than you love me! poor me! 'Die, Margaret! For Henry weeps that thou dost live so long.'
(Warwick and others enter.)
Warwick: everyone is saying Suffolk and the Cardinal killed Gloucester.
Henry: actually, no one knows how he died.
Warwick: i will go check.
(Warwick leaves and comes back.)
Warwick: he was def. murdered.
Suffolk: prove it.
Warwick: okay i will. here's like... seven things that prove it.
Suffolk: why... who would do that?
Warwick: well, i'm pretty sure you and the Cardinal hated Gloucester. and when you see a dead cow and a butcher holding an ax, you kinda just put 2 and 2 together.
Suffolk: slanderer!
Warwick: i wish i could kill you and send you straight to hell myself.
Suffolk: i'll kill you right now. want to go?
Warwick: hell yes. i will avenge poor Gloucester.
(Suffolk and Warwick exit, and come back in fighting.)
Henry: what do you think you're doing? it's illegal to fight like this in my presence.
(Salisbury enters.)
Salisbury: the people say that unless you put Suffolk to death for killing Gloucester, they will break in here and rip him apart themselves.
Henry: tell them i say thank you for their love and care, but i will take care of this. Suffolk, you have 3 days. if you are not completely gone from English soil by then, you will regret it.
(all but Suffolk and Margaret exit.)
Margaret: this isn't happening. i can't live without you.
Suffolk: i can't live without you!
(she kisses his hand and they embrace.)
Suffolk: 'for where thou art, there is the world itself'
(Vaux enters)
Vaux: the Cardinal is on his death bed. he suddenly became ill and confesses all of his evils in his delerium!
Margaret: i can't deal with all of this at once. Suffolk, you have to go or Henry will kill you. go to France. you have my heart.
Suffolk: ditto.
dear Cardinal, i hate you. love, me.
he is despicable! 'God's secret judgement'? FOR REAL?!?! that would be terrible anyway, but he plotted to kill him! and he's supposed to be a cardinal! a lot of people talk about the state the church is in today and whatnot, with supposed holy men turning out to be not-so-great people. but it's not today. there have always been, will always be, evil hidden amongst the best intentions. know what i mean? i feel like people often talk about it like it's some semi-recent development. or that it's so much worse now. i just don't think that's true. and this jerk reminded me. he's about to get what's coming to him!
i am seriously in mourning for Gloucester. it's like they had to kill him because he was too good. without G protecting Henry, i fear for what might happen to him. to me, it seems like Henry is just too innocent to make the really serious decisions for himself. this is partly G's fault, of course. i feel like Henry might get eaten up, and G will be partially to blame. and that's just even more tragic to me. *sigh* can't wait to see what happens next!
quote of the day:
'is all thy comfort shut in Gloucester's tomb?
why, then, Dame Margaret was ne'er thy joy.
erect his statue and worship it,
and make my image but an alehouse sign.'
-Queen Margaret; Act 3, Scene 2
for tomorrow: act 3, scene 3 and act 4, scenes 1 & 2
-rebecca may
nooooooooooooooooo!!! as if today wasn't hard enough! i am totally wiped out, got to my reading way too late, and what happened? the worst thing! i am mourning the loss. my favorite Shakespearean character that we've read so far was tragically murdered in today's reading. whyyyy?!?! i can't even deal.
okay here we go:
Murderer: we killed Gloucester!
Suffolk: i will reward you for your work. did you cover up the evidence?
Murderer: yup.
(exit Murderers, enter Henry, Margaret, Cardinal, Somerset, etc.)
Henry: where's Gloucester? let's do this trial and hopefully find him not guilty.
Suffolk: ok. i will go get him.
(Suffolk exits and re-enters)
Henry: what's wrong?
Suffolk: he's dead in his bed.
Cardinal: it was 'God's secret judgement' that killed him.
(Henry passes out and soon after comes to.)
Henry: get away from me, Suffolk. while i was passed out, i had a vision that you killed Gloucester!
Margaret: why would you accuse Suffolk? he looks like he's grieving to me. i didn't like Gloucester either, and everyone will probably hate me for it. (see quote below.) poor me. wah. you loved Gloucester more than you love me! poor me! 'Die, Margaret! For Henry weeps that thou dost live so long.'
(Warwick and others enter.)
Warwick: everyone is saying Suffolk and the Cardinal killed Gloucester.
Henry: actually, no one knows how he died.
Warwick: i will go check.
(Warwick leaves and comes back.)
Warwick: he was def. murdered.
Suffolk: prove it.
Warwick: okay i will. here's like... seven things that prove it.
Suffolk: why... who would do that?
Warwick: well, i'm pretty sure you and the Cardinal hated Gloucester. and when you see a dead cow and a butcher holding an ax, you kinda just put 2 and 2 together.
Suffolk: slanderer!
Warwick: i wish i could kill you and send you straight to hell myself.
Suffolk: i'll kill you right now. want to go?
Warwick: hell yes. i will avenge poor Gloucester.
(Suffolk and Warwick exit, and come back in fighting.)
Henry: what do you think you're doing? it's illegal to fight like this in my presence.
(Salisbury enters.)
Salisbury: the people say that unless you put Suffolk to death for killing Gloucester, they will break in here and rip him apart themselves.
Henry: tell them i say thank you for their love and care, but i will take care of this. Suffolk, you have 3 days. if you are not completely gone from English soil by then, you will regret it.
(all but Suffolk and Margaret exit.)
Margaret: this isn't happening. i can't live without you.
Suffolk: i can't live without you!
(she kisses his hand and they embrace.)
Suffolk: 'for where thou art, there is the world itself'
(Vaux enters)
Vaux: the Cardinal is on his death bed. he suddenly became ill and confesses all of his evils in his delerium!
Margaret: i can't deal with all of this at once. Suffolk, you have to go or Henry will kill you. go to France. you have my heart.
Suffolk: ditto.
dear Cardinal, i hate you. love, me.
he is despicable! 'God's secret judgement'? FOR REAL?!?! that would be terrible anyway, but he plotted to kill him! and he's supposed to be a cardinal! a lot of people talk about the state the church is in today and whatnot, with supposed holy men turning out to be not-so-great people. but it's not today. there have always been, will always be, evil hidden amongst the best intentions. know what i mean? i feel like people often talk about it like it's some semi-recent development. or that it's so much worse now. i just don't think that's true. and this jerk reminded me. he's about to get what's coming to him!
i am seriously in mourning for Gloucester. it's like they had to kill him because he was too good. without G protecting Henry, i fear for what might happen to him. to me, it seems like Henry is just too innocent to make the really serious decisions for himself. this is partly G's fault, of course. i feel like Henry might get eaten up, and G will be partially to blame. and that's just even more tragic to me. *sigh* can't wait to see what happens next!
quote of the day:
'is all thy comfort shut in Gloucester's tomb?
why, then, Dame Margaret was ne'er thy joy.
erect his statue and worship it,
and make my image but an alehouse sign.'
-Queen Margaret; Act 3, Scene 2
for tomorrow: act 3, scene 3 and act 4, scenes 1 & 2
-rebecca may
If it's any consolation, killing off the most supremely sympathetic of figures seems to be an integral plot twist in a number of the plays. (Take, for example, Cordelia in King Lear.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love the "quote of the day." Having Margaret imagine her memorial as nothing but "an alehouse sign" is a delightfully poetic move.
Maybe Henry will be okay. He seems to be asserting himself more in your re-cap here than he did before. When did Margaret and Suffolk hook up? I knew there was an attraction, but I guess I missed when it manifested.
ReplyDeletethanks for the comments!
ReplyDeleteI really lobe seeing you discover this play. And then those Quonset unfamiliar discover it through you. You truly are giving everyone a gift. It's a great construct in this scene that Suffolk just can't keep his mouth shut. Warwick says, 'looks like he was murdered.' and that idiot Suffolk says, 'Oh my, who couldn't done it.' Well, he was in your care Suffolk, and you really hated him. I wonder! By the by, a phenomenal scene for a scene study class would be the end of this with Suffolk and Mags. Passion, loss, goodbye, anger, fear, and they part together yet at separate doors. Just love it so much. Look forward to you meeting some of the new characters that arise in this play.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the question from before. I have played Duke Humphrey of Gloucester and Earl of Warwick. Actually will be playing Warwick in 3H6 for the month of March with the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia.
Tyler, i am loving your contribution so much. thank you!
ReplyDeleteRmay, I agree with you whole heartedly, I wonder if this Henry was where the character of Cardinal in the 3 Musketeers (based off of this Cardinal). I feel as if Henry will come into his maturity throughout the course of the play. Of course, Shakespeare will kill off the best friends (i.e. Romeo and Juliet's Mercutio), just to make the plot better, but it also makes the character better I feel, esp. one like Glouchester. The villains I feel, are almost too easy to discover, cause they keep giving themselves away, and it feels like, even as a single scene progresses, Henry should be realizing who the bad guys are. I feel like he's almost too naive, and how old is he supposed to be anyway? I really enjoy this new take on your blog, Rmay. Its very exciting. I am sad too, that Glouchester left us, but I really can't wait til All the villains get their dues in the end, esp. this new bad guy, John, thats about to be introduced. Keep it Rmay. I'm very excited!!
ReplyDeleteAndrew