Up Fish-street! Down Saint Magnus’-corner!
Kill and knock down! Throw them into
Thames!
-Jack Cade
King Henry VI, Part II Act IV, Scene 8,
Line 1
Yup, first line of the scene. I think I’ll give you
the setting as it’s stated in the play
SCENE
VIII
Southwark.
Alarum
and retreat. Enter again CADE and all his rabblement.
That’s right, Jack Cade enters with his rabblement. There’s a good word, eh?
Jack Cade is some peasant-type guy who claimed to be
of royal descent (historians pretty much agree that he wasn’t) who led the
common folk in an uprising against the throne, specifically Henry VI. He caused
a bunch of trouble and took over parts of London before being vanquished. This
scene is towards the end of Jack’s short rebellion. He and his rabblement are in
London, but the party’s about to come to an end. A couple pages down the road
in Scene X, we’ll find Jack hiding in someone’s garden outside London, and he
meets his demise there between the tomatoes and the arugula.
But for now, he’s enjoying having the crowd, I should
say rabblement, at his command.
These pics, by the way, are compliments of Google Maps. I usually use my own pics, but today I decided to JUST USE THE GOOGLE. Hmmmm, wonder where I got that idea?
2 comments:
So Jack Cade is an actual historical figure...?
And did Shakespeare really specify that he died amongst tomatoes and arugula?
Yes, Jack Cade was a real historical characters. All of Shakespeare's history plays (the ones about the English Kings) are of course based on real history (which is not to say that Will didn't fool around with the facts in the name of drama). Jack Cade was, in fact, a real person and he was, in fact, captured in someone's vegetable garden. I forget whether or not Will included the garden. But the tomatoes and arugula are my own additions to the narrative. I thought it sounded good.
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