Master lieutenant, now that God and friends
Have shaken Edward from the regal seat,
And turn’d my captive state to liberty,
My fear to hope, my sorrows unto joys,--
At our enlargement what are thy due fees?
-King Henry
King Henry The Sixth Part III Act IV, Scene vi, Line 1
This is the opening of Act Three, and we are very near the end of the Henries IV, V, and VI plays. In this scene they are busting Henry out of imprisonment in the Tower of London ('enlargement' is 'release') and he’s going to take the kingship back from Edward. Recall that the kingship went from Henry VI (a Lancaster), to Edward IV (a York), then back to Henry (this scene), and will eventually go back to Edward IV. And this is all part of the War of the Roses, a conflict that will continue with Richard III. Yes, it’s a bit confusing, and with all the supporting characters (many of whom switch sides during the conflict), you really do need a scorecard to keep track. So I’m not going to go into that right now.
I would like to focus for a moment on the second word in today’s lines. I would expect it to be pronounced Lef-ten-ent in any respectable British production of this play. And I think that’s fabulous. I love the way those Brits talk. Patrice and Walker get tired of me trying to emulate them. My favorite is Shesh-U-All for the word ‘schedule’; drives those guys nuts.
The picture you see above was taken on the street that runs behind Buckingham Palace in London. It fits today's post for a few reasons. For one, it's very possible that one of these guys is a lef-ten-ent. We don't really know, but it's possible. For another, the only reason I got this pic is because I slept in and missed the trip to the Tower of London that day. So, needless to say, I don't have any pictures of the Tower of London, and this is as close as I can get. And finally, since I felt bad about missing the Tower, I made darn sure to stick the Shesh-U-All for the rest of the trip.
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