A Mad Man

Vanity of all Vanities, all is Vanity

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Richard III - CLARENCE sleeps



Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,
Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night.
Princes have but their tides for their glories,
An outward honour for an inward toil;
And, for unfelt imagination,
They often feel a world of restless cares:
So that, betwixt their tides and low names,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.


After Clarence falls asleep, Brakenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, enters and observes that between the titles of princes and the low names of commoners there is nothing different but the "outward fame", meaning that they both have "inward toil" whether rich or poor.

Thought: Are princes very different from paupers? We are all but made of dust; we make do with what life gives us. So who are we to get puffed up and put ourselves higher than others?

No comments:

Post a Comment