Why, so. Now have I done a good day’s work.
You peers, continue this united league.
I every day expect an embassage
From my Redeemer, to redeem me hence;
And more at peace my soul shall part to heaven
Since I have made my friends at peace on earth.
Rivers and Hastings, take each other’s hand;
Dissemble not your hatred. Swear your love.
There. I've done good work today. My lords, keep this unity. I expect God to call me home soon, but my soul can go to heaven in peace now that I've made peace between my friends here on earth. Rivers and Hastings—take each other's hand. Don't hide your hatred. Swear that you love each other.
Good. I've accomplished something today. You lords, keep it together. God's gonna come for me any day now, but I can die happy because I've made peace between you all. Rivers and Hastings—shake hands. And mean it. Swear you love each other.
good work today keep the peace my soul can rest now that you're united
By heaven, my soul is purged from grudging hate,
And with my hand I seal my true heart’s love.
By heaven, I've purged my heart of hate and I seal my love with my hand.
I swear on heaven my hate is gone. I'm giving you my word with this handshake.
i forgive i seal it with this hand
So thrive I, as I truly swear the like.
And I swear the same, may I prosper as I do.
Me too. I mean every word.
same here i swear it
Take heed you dally not before your King,
Lest He that is the supreme King of kings
Confound your hidden falsehood, and award
Either of you to be the other’s end.
Don't toy with me while I'm king. God—the supreme King—will expose your lies and make one of you destroy the other.
Don't mess around with me. God will reveal your falsehood and one of you will end up killing the other.
don't lie to me god sees he'll punish you
So prosper I, as I swear perfect love.
May I prosper as I swear perfect love.
I swear true love.
perfect love i swear
And I, as I love Hastings with my heart.
And may good fortune come to me as I genuinely love Hastings with my whole heart.
Same with me—I truly do love Hastings.
me too i actually love hastings
Madam, yourself is not exempt from this;
Nor you, son Dorset; Buckingham, nor you.
You have been factious one against the other.
Wife, love Lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand,
And what you do, do it unfeignedly.
Queen, you're not exempt. Neither are you, Dorset, Buckingham, or anyone else. You've all been taking sides against each other. Wife, show love to Hastings, let him kiss your hand, and make it genuine.
This goes for you too, Queen. And you, Dorset. And Buckingham. You've all been enemies to each other. Elizabeth, show Hastings some love. Let him kiss your hand and mean it.
everyone no exceptions stop fighting show real love
There, Hastings, I will never more remember
Our former hatred, so thrive I and mine.
Hastings, from now on I will never remember our past hatred. May I and my children prosper if I lie.
Hastings, I'm leaving the past behind. I mean this.
we're past that let it go
Dorset, embrace him; Hastings, love lord Marquess.
Dorset, embrace him. Hastings, love the Marquess.
Dorset, hug him. Hastings, show you care.
embrace each other show affection
Deathbed reconciliation scenes appear throughout Shakespeare, but this one is unusual: it works, and then is immediately revealed to be moot. The ceremony Edward engineers is real and moving — these are genuine oaths, genuine embraces, genuine declarations of love. The writing isn't cynical about the ritual itself.
What's cynical is the timing. Richard walks in with the news of Clarence's death immediately after the ceremony concludes. The structural juxtaposition is perfect: we watch peace made for twenty minutes, then learn it was meaningless for fifteen seconds. The contrast is the point. Oaths and ceremonies cannot contain reality; they're symbols, and symbols don't protect you from the man who controls the facts on the ground.
Edward's long speech of self-reproach (chunk 2-1-040) is built on a series of rhetorical questions with no answers: 'Who spoke of brotherhood? Who spoke of love?' The silence implicit in those questions is the scene's real subject. The court was so focused on the ceremony of reconciliation — on performing loyalty — that no one exercised actual loyalty by telling Edward what his anger was about to cost him. The deathbed reconciliation is a masterpiece of political theater. It accomplished nothing.
This interchange of love, I here protest,
Upon my part shall be inviolable.
I swear this exchange of love will be unbreakable on my part.
I promise this peace will hold from my side.
this peace stays solid from me
And so swear I.
And so do I.
Same.
me too
Now, princely Buckingham, seal thou this league
With thy embracements to my wife’s allies,
And make me happy in your unity.
Now, Buckingham, seal this peace by embracing the Queen's family. Make me happy by showing unity.
Buckingham, hug the Queen's allies. Show it's real.
embrace them show unity
Whenever Buckingham doth turn his hate
Upon your Grace, but with all duteous love
Doth cherish you and yours, God punish me
With hate in those where I expect most love.
When I have most need to employ a friend,
And most assured that he is a friend,
Deep, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile
Be he unto me: this do I beg of God,
When I am cold in love to you or yours.
If I ever turn my hatred on you, if I don't cherish you with dutiful love, let God punish me by surrounding me with betrayal. When I most need a friend, let me think I have one, but let him be false, treacherous, and deceptive. This is what I ask of God if I ever become cold in my love toward you.
If I ever betray you, if I stop caring, I deserve to be surrounded by enemies pretending to be friends. When I need loyalty most, let me be fooled by a traitor. This is what I deserve if I'm not true to you.
if i betray you let me be betrayed by those i trust that's my curse on myself
A pleasing cordial, princely Buckingham,
Is this thy vow unto my sickly heart.
There wanteth now our brother Gloucester here,
To make the blessed period of this peace.
That's a comforting oath, Buckingham, healing to my sick heart. There's one thing missing—our brother Gloucester to complete this peace.
That does me good, Buckingham. It helps my heart. But Richard should be here to make this perfect.
good oath but we need richard here
And in good time,
Here comes Sir Ratcliffe and the Duke.
And here he comes now with Ratcliffe.
Right on cue. Here he is.
he's arriving now
Good morrow to my sovereign King and Queen;
And, princely peers, a happy time of day.
Good morning, my sovereign King and Queen, and my noble peers. Happy day to you all.
Good morning, your Majesty. Greetings, everyone. Hope you're all well.
good morning all of you
Happy indeed, as we have spent the day.
Gloucester, we have done deeds of charity,
Made peace of enmity, fair love of hate,
Between these swelling wrong-incensed peers.
Happy indeed. We've done good work, Gloucester. We've made peace between enemies, turned hatred into love, brought harmony to these feuding lords.
Very happy. We've been busy, Richard. Made peace between enemies, turned it all around.
we made peace turned enemies into friends
Edward IV died in April 1483, probably of pneumonia, at age forty — much younger than expected. He had been a vigorous, handsome king who enjoyed food and drink in quantities that eventually contributed to his decline. His death triggered an immediate succession crisis.
His heir, Edward V (the Prince), was twelve years old and in the care of the Woodville family (Queen Elizabeth's relatives) at Ludlow. The question of who would govern during the regency was immediately contested between the Woodvilles and Richard, Duke of Gloucester — who, as the late king's surviving brother, had a strong claim to the protectorship.
Shakespeare compresses and dramatizes this crisis, but the basic shape is historically accurate: Edward died, the court fractured along factional lines, Richard moved swiftly to intercept the prince and neutralize the Woodvilles, and within months Edward IV's carefully constructed peace was destroyed.
The deathbed reconciliation Edward engineers in this scene is probably Shakespeare's invention as a dramatic set piece — but the underlying dynamic is real: Edward knew he was dying, knew his court was divided, and almost certainly tried to bind his nobles together before he went. It didn't work then either.
A blessed labour, my most sovereign lord,
Among this princely heap, if any here
By false intelligence or wrong surmise
Hold me a foe,
If I unwittingly, or in my rage,
Have aught committed that is hardly borne
By any in this presence, I desire
To reconcile me to his friendly peace.
’Tis death to me to be at enmity;
I hate it, and desire all good men’s love.
First, madam, I entreat true peace of you,
Which I will purchase with my duteous service;
Of you, my noble cousin Buckingham,
If ever any grudge were lodged between us;
Of you and you, Lord Rivers and of Dorset,
That all without desert have frowned on me;
Of you, Lord Woodville and Lord Scales;—of you,
Dukes, earls, lords, gentlemen; indeed, of all.
I do not know that Englishman alive
With whom my soul is any jot at odds
More than the infant that is born tonight.
I thank my God for my humility.
A blessed task, my King. Among you noble men, if anyone thinks I'm their enemy through lies or false information, if I've done anything offensive in my anger or actions, I want to make peace. Enmity destroys me. I hate it. I want all good men to love me. First, I beg true peace from you, Queen, and I'll earn it through service. From you, Buckingham, if there's any grudge between us. From you, Rivers and Dorset, who've frowned on me without cause. From you, Lord Woodville, Lord Scales, and all the dukes, earls, and lords. I don't know a single Englishman I'm at odds with—I'm as innocent as a newborn. I thank God for my humility.
That's wonderful, my Lord. If anyone here thinks I'm against them for any reason—if I've offended anyone in anger—I want to fix it. I hate conflict. I want you all to like me. Queen, I'm asking you for peace. I'll prove my loyalty through service. Buckingham, if there's anything between us, let's clear it up. Rivers, Dorset, Woodville, Scales—everyone. I mean no harm to anyone. I'm innocent as a baby. Thank God I'm humble enough to say it.
i'm innocent i want peace with all of you please let's be friends
A holy day shall this be kept hereafter.
I would to God all strifes were well compounded.
My sovereign lord, I do beseech your Highness
To take our brother Clarence to your grace.
This day will be remembered as holy. I wish all conflicts could end this way. My Lord, I beg you to forgive our brother Clarence and restore him to your favor.
This is wonderful. I wish all fights could end like this. Majesty, I'm asking you to forgive Clarence and bring him back.
please forgive clarence brother let him back
Why, madam, have I offered love for this,
To be so flouted in this royal presence?
Who knows not that the gentle Duke is dead?
Why, haven't I offered peace? So this is how you repay me—scorning me in front of the King? Doesn't everyone know that gentle Clarence is dead?
Wait—I offered love and you humiliate me? Everyone knows Clarence is dead already.
you mock me for offering peace clarence is dead
You do him injury to scorn his corse.
You wrong him by mocking his dead body.
You're being cruel to him by mocking his corpse like that.
don't mock his dead body
Who knows not he is dead! Who knows he is?
Who doesn't know he's dead! Who believes he's alive?
Everyone knows he's dead! Who would think he's still alive?
everyone knows he's dead who thinks he's alive
All-seeing heaven, what a world is this!
God in heaven, what kind of world is this!
Oh God, what have we done!
god what world is this
Look I so pale, Lord Dorset, as the rest?
Do I look as pale as the rest of you, Dorset?
Dorset, am I as pale as everyone?
do i look as pale
Ay, my good lord, and no man in the presence
But his red colour hath forsook his cheeks.
Yes, my lord. Everyone in the room has gone white.
Yes. Everyone lost their color.
everyone's deadly pale
Is Clarence dead? The order was reversed.
Is Clarence dead? I thought I had reversed the order!
Clarence dead? I thought I stopped it!
no i cancelled the order
But he, poor man, by your first order died,
And that a winged Mercury did bear;
Some tardy cripple bore the countermand,
That came too lag to see him buried.
God grant that some, less noble and less loyal,
Nearer in bloody thoughts, and not in blood,
Deserve not worse than wretched Clarence did,
And yet go current from suspicion!
Your first order killed him, and Mercury on wings carried it out fast. But the countermand came too slowly, crippled and late, too late to save him before burial. God grant that anyone less loyal and less noble than Clarence, anyone with bloodier thoughts but less actual bloodshed, deserves no worse—and yet goes unpunished!
Your original order was executed immediately, like lightning. But the cancellation came too slow, limping along, arriving after he was already dead. God, I hope everyone less loyal than Clarence faces justice—but they seem to get away with everything!
the order executed immediately the countermand was too slow too late
Edward's great speech of guilt is ultimately an indictment not of Richard (who isn't named as guilty here) but of the entire court system that allowed a king's worst impulse to go unchecked.
'Not a man of you had so much grace to put it in my mind' — this is the charge. Edward had the information to know he was destroying a loyal brother; no one chose to surface it. They all calculated that Edward's anger was too dangerous to challenge, or that Clarence's fall was actually good for their faction, or that the king would come around eventually without being prompted. None of them was wrong, exactly — speaking up for Clarence would have been risky. But the sum of all their individual calculations was Clarence's death.
Shakespeare is diagnosing something endemic to hierarchical power: the more absolute the authority, the more the people around it become mirrors rather than advisors, reflecting back whatever mood is on the throne rather than offering genuine counsel. Edward surrounded himself with people who wanted his favor more than they wanted to tell him the truth. By the time he realizes this, it's too late to matter.
This is not a lesson confined to medieval courts.
A boon, my sovereign, for my service done!
A favor, my King, for service I've done!
My Lord, I'm asking a favor.
a favor please for my service
I prithee, peace. My soul is full of sorrow.
Please, peace. My heart is full of sorrow.
Not now. I'm in pain.
not now my heart is breaking
I will not rise unless your Highness hear me.
I won't stand unless you listen to me.
I won't leave till you hear me.
you have to listen
Then say at once what is it thou requests.
Then say what you want.
Okay, what is it?
speak
The forfeit, sovereign, of my servant’s life
Who slew today a riotous gentleman
Lately attendant on the Duke of Norfolk.
The life of my servant, who killed a violent gentleman who served the Duke of Norfolk today.
I want you to pardon my man. He killed a guy working for Norfolk.
pardon my man he killed a nobleman
Have I a tongue to doom my brother’s death,
And shall that tongue give pardon to a slave?
My brother killed no man; his fault was thought,
And yet his punishment was bitter death.
Who sued to me for him? Who, in my wrath,
Kneeled at my feet, and bid me be advised?
Who spoke of brotherhood? Who spoke of love?
Who told me how the poor soul did forsake
The mighty Warwick, and did fight for me?
Who told me, in the field at Tewksbury,
When Oxford had me down, he rescued me,
And said, “Dear brother, live, and be a king”?
Who told me, when we both lay in the field
Frozen almost to death, how he did lap me
Even in his garments, and did give himself,
All thin and naked, to the numb-cold night?
All this from my remembrance brutish wrath
Sinfully plucked, and not a man of you
Had so much grace to put it in my mind.
But when your carters or your waiting vassals
Have done a drunken slaughter, and defaced
The precious image of our dear Redeemer,
You straight are on your knees for pardon, pardon,
And I, unjustly too, must grant it you.
But for my brother not a man would speak,
Nor I, ungracious, speak unto myself
For him, poor soul. The proudest of you all
Have been beholding to him in his life,
Yet none of you would once beg for his life.
O God, I fear Thy justice will take hold
On me, and you, and mine and yours for this!
Come, Hastings, help me to my closet.
Ah, poor Clarence!
Do I have the authority to condemn my brother, and yet pardon a slave? My brother committed no crime—his only fault was thinking. And he was killed anyway. Who begged me for mercy? Who knelt at my feet asking me to reconsider? Who spoke of brotherhood? Who spoke of love? Who reminded me that Clarence forsook Warwick and fought for me? Who told me how at Tewksbury, when Oxford had me down, Clarence rescued me and said 'Brother, live and be king'? Who told me how we lay frozen in that field, and Clarence warmed me with his own body, naked in the cold night? All these memories—you've all made me forget them in my rage. And not one of you had the grace to remind me. But when your servants or drivers get drunk and kill someone, when they insult Christ's image, then you're all on your knees begging pardon and I give it. But for Clarence—nobody spoke. I didn't speak for myself. The proudest of you all owed everything to him, yet none would beg for his life. God, I fear His justice will fall on me, you, and all of us for this! Come, Hastings, help me to my room. Oh, poor Clarence!
I ordered my brother's death and now I'm supposed to forgive some servant? My brother didn't commit a crime—his only fault was thinking the wrong thing. And he dies for it. Who pleaded with me for him? Who got on his knees? Who reminded me how he saved my life at Tewksbury when I was trapped? Who reminded me how he warmed my frozen body with his own? You've all let me forget that in my anger. None of you reminded me. But when your drunk servants kill somebody, suddenly you're all asking for pardons and I grant them. But Clarence—not a word from you. Not even from me. Every one of you owed him debts, but none of you asked me to spare him. God is going to punish all of us for this. Hastings, help me go rest. God, Clarence—what have I done!
i killed my brother no one reminded me what he did for me what he sacrificed i failed him we all failed him god will punish us
This is the fruit of rashness. Marked you not
How that the guilty kindred of the Queen
Looked pale when they did hear of Clarence’ death?
O, they did urge it still unto the King.
God will revenge it. Come, lords, will you go
To comfort Edward with our company?
This is the fruit of hasty action. Did you notice how the Queen's guilty relatives went pale when they heard about Clarence's death? They kept pushing the King to do it. God will punish them. Come, will you go comfort Edward with us?
See? This is what happens. The Queen's people looked scared when they heard Clarence was dead. They were the ones pushing the King. God will get them. Come on, let's go console Edward.
the queen's family looked guilty they pushed the king let's comfort him
We wait upon your Grace.
We await your command.
After you.
we're ready
The Reckoning
This is the scene where Edward's court becomes a crime scene. The reconciliation ceremony — all those handshakes and oaths — was predicated on the assumption that the court's problems were interpersonal rivalry. Edward's solution was symbolic: make everyone shake hands and swear. But Richard had already rendered the whole ceremony meaningless by killing Clarence before it even concluded. The dramatic irony is unbearable: everyone in the room is swearing peace while, in the Tower, their fellow noble has just been drowned in a wine barrel. Edward's long speech of self-reproach (2-1-040) is the most devastating indictment of sycophancy in the play — a dying king realizing that everyone around him told him what he wanted to hear, and no one loved him well enough to tell him the truth.
If this happened today…
Edward's speech is about what happens when everyone in the room is too intimidated, too self-interested, or too worried about their own position to say 'your majesty, think about what you're doing.' No one interceded for Clarence because they were all busy cultivating their own positions. This is the board meeting where everyone knows the CEO's decision is catastrophic but nobody speaks up because they're thinking about their bonus. The people who could have saved Clarence said nothing, and then they all attended the ceremony about how much they all loved each other.