Mojo, The Bard, & Me

‘Well met, my Lord Chamberlain.’

-Duke of Norfolk

King Henry the Eighth   Act II, scene ii    Line 12                 

I suppose we were bound to get one of these lines eventually. Remember, full random. In fact, if we keep this up we’re liable to get some real humdinger one word lines. Well, we’ll see.

So this is just a greeting, albeit not one we use today. Maybe you should try it out. I’ll bet we could start something. Can you imagine running into one of your co-workers or classmates in the hallway with this? “Well met Justin.” Justin would look at you with a blank stare. “Well met what?” I think I’ll try it on my son or wife today. They think I’m nuts anyway. I’ll let you know what I come up with. In the meantime, maybe a little about this play.

King Henry the Eighth was one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote and it is presumed that he wrote this one in collaboration with John Fletcher, whoever that is. Keep in mind that in Shakespeare’s time a playwright had to be a bit careful what he wrote about. Then remember that Henry VIII’s daughter Elizabeth was alive for the first part of Shakespeare’s life. It wasn’t until after her death that he decided to take on this monarch as a subject. Henry VIII died in 1547, his daughter Elizabeth in 1603. This play was written around 1612.

We could discuss the “How are you?” greeting of today that most of us don’t really care for the answer to. It’s just become a customary greeting. So “Well met buddy” is really not that farfetched. Again, I think we need to dust it off, air it out, and give it a go.

In the meantime, my Henry VIII pencil.