Act 2, Scene 3 — Henry VI, Part 2

The argument A Hall of Justice: Henry pronounces sentence on Eleanor and her co-conspirators — the witch to be burned, the others hanged, Eleanor herself to do three days of public penance before banishment to the Isle of Man. Gloucester accepts the law's judgment and surrenders his Protector's staff when Henry asks for it. Margaret publicly celebrates the double blow — Eleanor ruined, Gloucester stripped. Then the court watches the trial by combat between Horner the armourer (drunk, prodded by his neighbours) and Peter Thump (terrified, distributing his belongings as a death gift). Peter wins; Horner dies confessing treason; Henry credits God's justice.

Sound trumpets. Enter the King, the Queen, Gloucester, York, Suffolk

and Salisbury; the Duchess of Gloucester, Margery Jourdain, Southwell,

Hume and Bolingbroke under guard.

KING HENRY ≋ verse KING HENRY in this moment

Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester’s wife.

In sight of God and us, your guilt is great;

Receive the sentence of the law for sins

Such as by God’s book are adjudged to death.

You four, from hence to prison back again;

From thence unto the place of execution.

The witch in Smithfield shall be burnt to ashes,

And you three shall be strangled on the gallows.

You, madam, for you are more nobly born,

Despoiled of your honour in your life,

Shall, after three days’ open penance done,

Live in your country here in banishment,

With Sir John Stanley in the Isle of Man.

Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester’s wife. In sight of God and us, your guilt is great; Re...

stand forth, dame eleanor cobham,

"The witch in Smithfield shall be burnt to ashes" Margery Jourdain, the witch hired for Eleanor's séance, receives the most severe penalty — burning was the statutory punishment for witchcraft. The public location (Smithfield) ensures maximum visibility.

"three days' open penance" A ritualised public shaming: Eleanor would walk through London streets barefoot, in a white sheet, carrying a candle — a spectacle the audience of 2-4 will witness. For a duchess, this social death is designed to be worse than exile.

"with Sir John Stanley in the Isle of Man" The Stanley family controlled the Isle of Man under royal grant. Sending Eleanor there puts her under effective house arrest at the furthest comfortable remove from London.

Why it matters Henry pronounces the sentence himself — a rare moment of direct royal authority. The distinctions in punishment reveal the hierarchy: commoners burn and hang; a duchess is publicly humiliated but survives. Even justice has a class system.

ELEANOR ELEANOR in this moment

Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death.

Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death....

[core emotion]

Why it matters Eleanor's one-line response to her sentence is a compressed portrait of a woman who knows everything is over and has moved past fear. The line is defiant and exhausted simultaneously.

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER in this moment

Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged thee.

I cannot justify whom the law condemns.

Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged thee. I cannot justify whom the law condemns....

eleanor, the law, thou seest,

Why it matters Gloucester's farewell to Eleanor in open court is eight words of devastating restraint: "I cannot justify whom the law condemns." He won't lie for her, won't protect her from earned consequences — but the pain is visible in the brevity.

[_Exeunt Duchess and the other prisoners, guarded._]

Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief.

Ah, Humphrey, this dishonour in thine age

Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground!—

I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go;

Sorrow would solace, and mine age would ease.

KING HENRY ≋ verse KING HENRY in this moment

Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. Ere thou go,

Give up thy staff. Henry will to himself

Protector be; and God shall be my hope,

My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet.

And go in peace, Humphrey, no less beloved

Than when thou wert Protector to thy king.

Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. Ere thou go, Give up thy staff. Henry will to himself Protector b...

stay, humphrey duke of gloucester.

"Give up thy staff" The Lord Protector's staff is the physical emblem of his power over the kingdom during the king's minority (or incapacity). Surrendering it is the formal act of resignation — everything Gloucester has built is in this object.

"Henry will to himself / Protector be" Henry declares personal rule — but the tragedy is that Henry is constitutionally incapable of governing alone. He says this sincerely; the audience knows it means chaos.

Why it matters Henry asks warmly, even lovingly — which makes this worse. He is not wresting the staff in anger; he is receiving it as a gift, wrapped in affection. The gentleness of the dispossession makes it more complete. And Henry's declaration of self-governance, with God as his only Protector, is the play's most quietly devastating line: a king announcing he needs no earthly help, precisely when England needs it most.

QUEEN MARGARET ≋ verse QUEEN MARGARET in this moment

I see no reason why a king of years

Should be to be protected like a child.

God and King Henry govern England’s realm!

Give up your staff, sir, and the King his realm.

I see no reason why a king of years Should be to be protected like a child. God and King Henry gover...

i see no reason why

Why it matters Margaret's interjection confirms this was arranged: Henry's gentle request is backed by Margaret's impatient pressure. Together they create a pincer. Her line "Give up your staff, sir, and the King his realm" is deliberately humiliating — reducing Gloucester's role to a theft of royal authority.

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER in this moment

My staff? Here, noble Henry, is my staff.

As willingly do I the same resign

As e’er thy father Henry made it mine;

And even as willingly at thy feet I leave it

As others would ambitiously receive it.

Farewell, good King. When I am dead and gone,

May honourable peace attend thy throne.

My staff? Here, noble Henry, is my staff. As willingly do I the same resign As e’er thy father Henry...

my staff? here, noble henry,

"As willingly do I the same resign / As e'er thy father Henry made it mine" Gloucester received the Protectorate from Henry V on his deathbed. Returning it to Henry VI completes a circle — and signals that Gloucester sees his life's work as done.

"When I am dead and gone" A farewell wish, but also an unintentional prophecy — Gloucester will be murdered before long. The audience who know the story feel the line land differently than Gloucester intends it.

Why it matters Gloucester's staff-surrender speech is one of his finest moments — and one of the play's most quietly heartbreaking. He doesn't rage, doesn't accuse, doesn't bargain. He simply sets down forty years of service and says goodbye. The contrast with Margaret's acquisitive glee in the next speech is devastating.

[_Exit._]

QUEEN MARGARET ≋ verse QUEEN MARGARET in this moment

Why, now is Henry King and Margaret Queen,

And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester scarce himself,

That bears so shrewd a maim. Two pulls at once;

His lady banished, and a limb lopped off.

This staff of honour raught, there let it stand

Where it best fits to be, in Henry’s hand.

Why, now is Henry King and Margaret Queen, And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester scarce himself, That bear...

why, now is henry king

"Two pulls at once" Margaret uses a dental or surgical metaphor — simultaneously extracting two painful things. Her pleasure in the efficiency is telling: she's been engineering this for multiple scenes.

"This staff of honour raught" "Raught" is past tense of "reach" — the staff has been reached for and taken. Margaret frames what just happened as a retrieval of something rightfully Henry's, not a seizure.

Why it matters Margaret's gleeful commentary immediately after Gloucester exits is the scene's moral nadir. She is openly exultant over a good man's destruction, and she frames the staff as being where it "best fits" — in Henry's hand — which is precisely where it will do the least good.

SUFFOLK ≋ verse SUFFOLK in this moment

Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays;

Thus Eleanor’s pride dies in her youngest days.

Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays; Thus Eleanor’s pride dies in her youngest days....

thus droops this lofty pine

"Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays" Suffolk uses the classical image of the fallen great tree — a noble image (pines are tall, proud) now drooping. The botanical register echoes the garden metaphors of 2-2.

YORK ≋ verse YORK in this moment

Lords, let him go.—Please it your majesty,

This is the day appointed for the combat,

And ready are the appellant and defendant,

The armourer and his man, to enter the lists,

So please your highness to behold the fight.

Lords, let him go.—Please it your majesty, This is the day appointed for the combat, And ready are t...

lords, let him go.—please it

"the lists" The enclosed arena (the "lists") prepared for formal trial by combat — barriers, drums, heralds, the full ceremonial apparatus of judicial single combat.

Why it matters York's "Let him go" is one of the play's most casual cruelties — Gloucester has just surrendered his life's work and York shrugs it off in three words, pivoting immediately to the entertainment. For York, Gloucester's fall is already filed and finished.

QUEEN MARGARET ≋ verse QUEEN MARGARET in this moment

Ay, good my lord; for purposely therefore

Left I the court to see this quarrel tried.

Ay, good my lord; for purposely therefore Left I the court to see this quarrel tried....

ay, good my lord; for

KING HENRY ≋ verse KING HENRY in this moment

I’ God’s name, see the lists and all things fit.

Here let them end it, and God defend the right!

I’ God’s name, see the lists and all things fit. Here let them end it, and God defend the right!...

i’ god’s name, see the

"God defend the right" The formula of trial by combat: God will reveal truth by giving victory to the innocent party. Henry means this completely sincerely. The comic irony is that God will indeed defend the right — through a drunk man's inability to fight.

YORK ≋ verse YORK in this moment

I never saw a fellow worse bested,

Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant,

The servant of his armourer, my lords.

I never saw a fellow worse bested, Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant, The servant of hi...

i never saw a fellow

Enter at one door Horner the armourer, and his Neighbours, drinking to

him so much that he is drunk; and he enters with a drum before him and

his staff with a sandbag fastened to it; and at the other door Peter,

his man, with a drum and sandbag, and Prentices drinking to him.

1 NEIGHBOUR.

Here, neighbour Horner, I drink to you in a cup of sack; and fear not,

neighbour, you shall do well enough.

2 NEIGHBOUR.

And here, neighbour, here’s a cup of charneco.

3 NEIGHBOUR.

And here’s a pot of good double beer, neighbour. Drink, and fear not

your man.

HORNER HORNER in this moment

Let it come, i’ faith, and I’ll pledge you all; and a fig for Peter!

1 PRENTICE.

Here, Peter, I drink to thee, and be not afraid.

2 PRENTICE.

Be merry, Peter, and fear not thy master. Fight for credit of the

prentices.

Let it come, i’ faith, and I’ll pledge you all; and a fig for Peter! 1 PRENTICE. Here, Peter, I drin...

let it come, i’ faith,

"a fig for Peter" "A fig" was a vulgar dismissive gesture (thrusting the thumb between two fingers) — the Elizabethan equivalent of a rude hand gesture. Horner is drunk enough to insult his accuser publicly before the fight.

Why it matters The pre-combat drinking ritual is Shakespeare's class comedy: on one side, an armourer's neighbours toasting him with sack and charneco (a sweet wine); on the other, apprentices cheering their underdog. Both rituals parody the high-court ceremony that preceded this scene.

PETER PETER in this moment

I thank you all. Drink, and pray for me, I pray you, for I think I have

taken my last draught in this world. Here, Robin, an if I die, I give

thee my apron; and, Will, thou shalt have my hammer; and here, Tom,

take all the money that I have. O Lord bless me! I pray God, for I am

never able to deal with my master, he hath learnt so much fence

already.

I thank you all. Drink, and pray for me, I pray you, for I think I have taken my last draught in thi...

i thank you all. drink,

"I give thee my apron... thou shalt have my hammer... take all the money" Peter's impromptu bequest — distributing his modest estate (apron, hammer, money) to friends before the fight — is simultaneously funny and touching. A craftsman's entire worldly wealth fits in three gifts.

"he hath learnt so much fence already" "Fence" = fencing, swordsmanship. An armourer who makes weapons also knows how to use them; Peter's terror is rational. The comedy of the scene rests on Peter being right about his danger and wrong about the outcome.

Why it matters Peter's farewell gifts are the scene's human core amid the spectacle. He's not a politician or a noble — he's a craftsman who told the truth and now faces death for it. His casual disposal of his few possessions makes the stakes real at a scale the Eleanor-Gloucester drama can't quite reach.

SALISBURY ≋ verse SALISBURY in this moment

Come, leave your drinking and fall to blows.

Sirrah, what’s thy name?

Come, leave your drinking and fall to blows. Sirrah, what’s thy name?...

come, leave your drinking and

PETER PETER in this moment

Peter, forsooth.

Peter, forsooth....

[core emotion]

SALISBURY SALISBURY in this moment

Peter? What more?

Peter? What more?...

[core emotion]

PETER PETER in this moment

Thump.

Thump....

[core emotion]

SALISBURY SALISBURY in this moment

Thump! Then see thou thump thy master well.

Thump! Then see thou thump thy master well....

[core emotion]

"Thump! Then see thou thump thy master well" The joke writes itself — a man named "Thump" is ordered to thump someone. Salisbury plays it straight, which makes it funnier. This comic moment sits between Gloucester's resignation and Horner's death confession without apology.

Why it matters The Thump/thump exchange is Shakespeare allowing himself a pun in the middle of political tragedy — and getting away with it because it's Salisbury, not a fool, who makes it. The joke also humanizes Salisbury briefly before reminding us he just pledged treason in a garden.

HORNER HORNER in this moment

Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man’s instigation, to

prove him a knave and myself an honest man; and touching the Duke of

York, I will take my death I never meant him any ill, nor the King, nor

the Queen; and therefore, Peter, have at thee with a downright blow!

Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man’s instigation, to prove him a knave and myself an...

masters, i am come hither,

"I will take my death I never meant him any ill" "Take my death" = swear on my life. Horner's earnest denial is undermined by his visible drunkenness — the audience can see the performance is not quite credible, and his death will shortly confirm the truth.

Why it matters Horner's pre-combat declaration is both legally required and visibly impaired by drink — a comic contrast that Shakespeare uses to prepare the audience for his confession. The man protesting his innocence while obviously drunk is a courtroom archetype.

YORK YORK in this moment

Dispatch! This knave’s tongue begins to double.

Dispatch! This knave’s tongue begins to double....

[core emotion]

"this knave's tongue begins to double" "Double" means to speak in a doubled, slurred, confused way — York recognizes Horner is losing coherence. His concern is the ceremony, not the man.

Sound, trumpets. Alarum to the combatants!

[_They fight, and Peter strikes him down._]

HORNER HORNER in this moment

Hold, Peter, hold! I confess, I confess treason.

Hold, Peter, hold! I confess, I confess treason....

hold, peter, hold! i confess,

Why it matters The confession at death is the scene's judicial resolution. God has "defended the right" exactly as Henry prayed — through the mechanism of a drunk man being beaten by a terrified apprentice. The absurdity is the point: justice arrives, but not through dignity.

[_Dies._]

YORK YORK in this moment

Take away his weapon.—Fellow, thank God and the good wine in thy

master’s way.

Take away his weapon.—Fellow, thank God and the good wine in thy master’s way....

take away his weapon.—fellow, thank

"thank God and the good wine in thy master's way" York's verdict is characteristically clear-eyed: Peter won because God willed it AND because Horner was drunk. York credits both without embarrassment. He doesn't pretend the divine mechanism was noble.

Why it matters York's deadpan acknowledgment that Peter owes his victory to divine providence AND his master's alcoholism is one of the play's finest one-liners. It refuses to dignify the combat with false solemnity.

PETER PETER in this moment

O God, have I overcome mine enemies in this presence? O Peter, thou

hast prevailed in right!

O God, have I overcome mine enemies in this presence? O Peter, thou hast prevailed in right!...

o god, have i overcome

Why it matters Peter addresses himself in the third person — the shock of survival pushing him outside his own body. "Thou hast prevailed in right" is not triumphalism; it's astonishment. He genuinely did not expect to live.

KING HENRY ≋ verse KING HENRY in this moment

Go, take hence that traitor from our sight,

For by his death we do perceive his guilt.

And God in justice hath revealed to us

The truth and innocence of this poor fellow,

Which he had thought to have murdered wrongfully.

Come, fellow, follow us for thy reward.

Go, take hence that traitor from our sight, For by his death we do perceive his guilt. And God in ju...

go, take hence that traitor

"by his death we do perceive his guilt" The logic of trial by combat: the loser is guilty because God would not permit an innocent man to lose. Henry applies this formula completely sincerely. The fact that Horner was drunk makes Henry's theological certainty quietly comic.

Why it matters Henry's conclusion follows the formal logic of trial by combat perfectly — and that logic is correct by accident. Horner was guilty; Peter was innocent; God did defend the right. The mechanism was ridiculous; the outcome was just. Shakespeare refuses to let either comedy or justice swallow the other.

[_Sound a flourish. Exeunt._]

The Reckoning

This is the scene where Gloucester's political life ends publicly and without drama — he simply hands over the staff of office and walks away. Shakespeare makes this quiet moment more devastating than any battle. Meanwhile the Horner-Peter combat is slapstick that resolves serious consequences: a man dies, treason is confirmed, and a frightened apprentice discovers he prevailed 'in right.'

If this happened today…

Imagine a cabinet minister watching his spouse convicted of fraud in open court, then being handed a resignation letter by the prime minister — politely, with warm words — right afterward in the same room. Then the same afternoon, a workplace grievance hearing somehow resolves itself when the accused manager shows up visibly drunk. Comic and tragic in the same afternoon, both matters closed.

Continue to 2.4 →