Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

The time hath been

Would you have been so brief with him, he would

Have been so brief with you, to shorten you,

For taking so the head, your whole head’s length.

-Duke of York

King Richard II              Act III, scene iii, line 11

Bolingbroke is back in England and marching with an army to reclaim what is his. They’ve come to the castle where King Richard is sequestered. The Duke of York is with Bolingbroke, but he is faithful to Richard. Remember now, that York is the brother to Bolingbroke’s father and to Richard’s father. So whilst he has an equally familial allegiance to both of them, he is on the side of Richard as being the rightful King of England, since Richard is the son of the oldest brother of all the sons of Edward III. 

With today’s lines York is letting Northumberland know that he’d better be more respectful and refer to King Richard as King Richard, not just Richard, as he did in a previous line. Northumberland claims that he was just being ‘brief’, not disrespectful, when referring to the king as simply Richard. This is what York is responding to with today’s lines, and he’s picking up on the word ‘brief’ that Northumberland used.   

Perhaps I could have been more brief with that explanation?

Here is a pic of four of my nephews (there's a couple of other ones, but I couldn't find a pic of all of them). Now, since Micael is the son of the oldest of my siblings, he would be the king. But what if Caleb, or Will, or John decided that they wanted the job. Well now, they're all sons of my brothers, so which one do I stand with? Would it be Michael because he's the son of the oldest brother? Then do I throw these other guys under the bus? I wouldn't want to be in the Duke of York's shoes.