Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Lord mayor,--

-Duke of Buckingham

King Richard the Third         Act III Scene v, Line 14

 

Yup, Lord mayor. That’s it. Actually, there’s a beginning to the line. It gets interrupted by a little stage direction, and it actually looks like this: 

Let me entertain him

                   Enter the MAYOR and CATESBY

                                                Lord mayor,--

And then Buckingham gets interrupted by Richard. It’s not a particularly inspiring line. It’s part of a scene where Richard and Buckingham are up to a bit of political intrigue as they work on getting Richard the crown.

There’s just a ton of political intrigue in Will’s history plays. And so much of it is so similar to all the political intrigue that continues today. None of it’s changed much. They say it’s all about the Benjamins, but I think that to a lot of these characters (I’m speaking of Will’s characters and of the real-life ones that fill our media coverage today) it’s all about the power. Will that ever change? Let me answer my own question: I think it’s part of the human condition, so no, it will never change.

Will would have a field day writing a play about some of the idiots (and worse) populating today's political landscape. Or perhaps you can say he already has?