Sir Pierce of Exton appears in two scenes: this one and 5-6. He is essentially a function with a face — a man who hears ambiguous words and chooses the most dangerous interpretation. He is not evil; he is eager, which is worse. His reward will be exile.
Didst thou not mark the King, what words he spake:
“Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?”
Was it not so?
Didst thou not mark the King, what words he spake:
“Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?”
Was it not so?
didst thou not mark the king, what words he spake:
“have i no friend will rid me of this living fear?”
was it not so?
Didst thou not mark the King, what words he spake:
These were his very words.
These were his very words.
these were his very words.
These were his very words.
Scene 5-4 is the play's most politically sophisticated scene. It presents the classical problem of royal assassination: how does a king get an enemy killed without bearing the explicit guilt of ordering it? Henry IV's solution — if it is a solution, if this is what happened — is to express a wish in front of someone sufficiently eager. Exton is not ordered; he interprets. The ambiguity is total and deliberate. Shakespeare never shows Henry IV saying 'have I no friend who will rid me of this living fear' — we only hear Exton report it. The repetition of the words, the confirmation from the servant, the meaningful look — all of these are Exton's interpretation of an event we didn't witness. It may have happened exactly as described. It may have been less explicit. The play doesn't tell us, because Henry IV's guilt was always designed to be exactly this ambiguous: real enough that he cannot escape it morally, deniable enough that he never had to acknowledge it publicly. The play's ending depends on this distinction holding.
“Have I no friend?” quoth he. He spake it twice
And urged it twice together, did he not?
“Have I no friend?” quoth he. He spake it twice
And urged it twice together, did he not?
“have i no friend?” quoth he. he spake it twice
and urged it twice together, did he not?
“Have I no friend?” quoth he. He spake it twice An
He did.
He did.
he did.
He did.
And speaking it, he wishtly looked on me,
As who should say “I would thou wert the man
That would divorce this terror from my heart”,
Meaning the king at Pomfret. Come, let’s go.
I am the King’s friend, and will rid his foe.
And speaking it, he wishtly looked on me,
As who should say “I would thou wert the man
That would divorce this terror from my heart”,
Meaning the king at Pomfret. Come, let’s go.
I am the King’s friend, and will rid his foe.
and speaking it, he wishtly looked on me,
as who should say “i would thou wert the man
that would divorce this terror from my heart”,
meaning the king at pomfret. come, let’s go.
i am the king’s friend, and will rid his foe.
And speaking it, he wishtly looked on me, As who s
The Reckoning
Seven chunks — the shortest scene in the play, and one of the most chilling in Shakespeare. Nothing happens except a man repeating words he heard and deciding what they meant. The play never shows Henry IV saying anything directly. It shows Exton interpreting something, and acting on the interpretation. The gap between what was said and what it means is where Richard II will die.
If this happened today…
Two men in a corridor at Windsor. One says: did you hear what he said at dinner? 'Has anyone got the nerve to handle this for me?' Said it twice. Looked right at me when he said it the second time. The other: those were his exact words. The first: a man like me — who takes initiative — knows an invitation when he hears one. Let's go.