Today’s Totally Random Lines
Old
John of Gaunt is grievous sick, my lord,
Suddenly
taken; and hath sent post-haste
To
entreat your majesty to visit him.
Bushy
King Richard the Second Act I, Scene iv, Line 54
Your majesty that Bushy addresses
here is Richard II, and the old John of Gaunt he’s referring to is Richard’s
uncle, the second male born of Edward III. The first male born of Edward III
was Richard II’s father, Edward the Black Prince. But the Black Prince
predeceased his father, Edward III, so that when the latter died, his crown
passed not to his eldest surviving son, John of Gaunt, but rather to his
grandson, Richard II. Got it?
Aside from a little history lesson, the bottom line here is that old John of Gaunt is not just any old guy lying on his deathbed. John of Gaunt is, next to his nephew Richard II, belikes the most powerful man in the kingdom. And it’s old John Gaunt’s son, Henry, who’s going to be coming back to take the throne from Richard.
So Old John of Gaunt, who is the father of the future king (though no one knows that right now), should more properly be referred to as The Most Revered and Mighty Prince John. Or something like that. But that’s not the way that Richard and his flunkies see it. They just see him as Old John of Gaunt.
Underestimating or undervaluing people: that’ll end up getting you in trouble every time. If you don’t mind my saying so, you should try not to do that. And everyone’s got some value. So you should probably just not undervalue or underestimate anyone.
There you go, some pearls of wisdom for the day.
1 comment:
Wise words. Though sometimes I feel like people put too much value on a single person - cult leaders and the like. But that's another argument for a different day.
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