Mojo, The Bard, & Me

For God's sake, take away this captive scold.

-Richard

                                   

King Henry the Sixth Part III                                Act V, scene v, Line 29

A 'scold', according to the glossary I'm using is an abusive woman, but I think in this situation it's a bit more acerbic than that. In fact, Richard is pretty much calling Margaret, the queen, a hag. 

However, consider the source. The Richard that's speaking is soon to be King Richard III. And while that may be the title of one of Shakespeare's better works, it's not the name of one of England's better kings. He's the guy who's responsible for two of his nephews disappearing, among other things.

So in this time four centuries prior to the #METOO era, you can pretty much bet that Richard is going to get away with calling Margaret whatever he wants to call her. Just the same, considering his behavior, and that his name is Richard, I guess it will be okay if we just refer to him as #DICK. 

Here you go. The indomitable Laurence Olivier showing just how Richardish the Third he can be.