The general of our horse thou art, and we,
Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence
Upon thy promising fortune.
The general of our horse you are, and we, Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence Upon your promising fortune.
the general of our horse you are, and we, great in our hope, lay our best love and credence upon your promising fortune.
The general of our horse you are, and we, Great in our...
Bertram's dedication to Mars — 'A lover of thy drum, hater of love' — makes explicit a mythological binary that runs through the play. Mars is war, honor, masculine performance. Venus is love, desire, the domestic sphere. In classical mythology, Mars and Venus are lovers — which Shakespeare would know well from Ovid. The joke embedded in Bertram's pledge is that you cannot truly separate them. You cannot be a 'hater of love' while simultaneously being a man whose whole story is organized around who he will and won't bed. Even his flight from Helena is a love story — it defines him in relation to her. The play's resolution will not come through war. It will come through a bed trick. Mars and Venus cannot stay in separate rooms. Bertram's pledge is already doomed.
Sir, it is
A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet
We’ll strive to bear it for your worthy sake
To th’extreme edge of hazard.
Sir, it is A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet We’ll strive to bear it for your worthy sake To th’extreme edge of hazard.
sir, it 's a charge too heavy for my strength; but yet we’ll strive to bear it for your worthy sake to th’extreme edge of hazard.
Sir, it is A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet...
Then go thou forth;
And fortune play upon thy prosperous helm,
As thy auspicious mistress!
Then go you forth; And fortune play upon your prosperous helm, As your auspicious mistress!
then go you forth; and fortune play upon your prosperous helm, as your auspicious mistress!
Then go you forth; And fortune play upon your prosperous helm, As...
This very day,
Great Mars, I put myself into thy file;
Make me but like my thoughts, and I shall prove
A lover of thy drum, hater of love.
This very day, Great Mars, I put myself into your file; Make me but like my thoughts, and I shall prove A lover of your drum, hater of love.
th's very day, great mars, i put myself into your file; make me but like my thoughts, and i shall prove a lover of your drum, hater of love.
This very day, Great Mars, I put myself into your file; Make...
The Reckoning
The shortest scene in the act — barely a minute — but it crystallizes Bertram's project. He has escaped a marriage he didn't want and is now given the thing he craved: military command, masculine honor, a life organized around war instead of love. His final couplet — 'Make me but like my thoughts, and I shall prove / A lover of thy drum, hater of love' — is both a triumph and a self-indictment. He is running toward hate. The audience has just watched Helena pray for his protection.
If this happened today…
A young man who just walked out on a relationship he didn't choose gets his dream job offer the same week. He accepts immediately. At the onboarding meeting he makes a little speech about how work is everything and personal life is a distraction. His new boss is delighted. Nobody in the room knows he left a wife behind.