Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

No question of that; for I have seen him whipt three market-days together.

Dick [aside]

King Henry the Sixth Part II         Act IV, Scene ii, Line 54

 

No question of what? Jack Cade, talking to the crowd and convincing them of his strength and ability to lead them, has said ‘I am able to endure much.’ And Dick the butcher, speaking in an aside, says no question of that; for I have seen him whipt three market-days together. In other words, Cade can endure much but he has not proved it in battle; he has proved it by being whipped for being caught stealing stuff at market. 

Remember, that an aside means that the speaker is saying his lines sort of on the sly. The theater audience can hear what he’s saying, but the other actors on stage, particularly Jack Cade, are not hearing the aside. So this is tongue in cheek. Cade is going on and on about his royal heritage and stellar attributes whilst Dick the butcher and Smith the weaver have something to say about each of Cade’s lines. A bit of humor in this history play.

This is a pic of three cousins right after I told them we were going to act out this scene. You can see that Laura and Nina were pretty excited because I told them that they would be Smith the weaver and Dick the butcher, the two characters making the funny comments in this scene. Michael, on the other hand, realized that this would leave him playing Jack Cade, the guy the other two would be making fun of. He was, understandably, a little upset about this prospect. But being the trooper that he is, he came around and, knowing that the show must go on, he bucked up and did a darn good job as Cade. It was, in fact, one of the better Cades I've ever seen.