The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 5 of 9]

Chapter 231: fed SCENE IV. Another part of the field.

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

The volume presents a connected sequence of historical dramas that dramatize the disintegration of centralized power and the violent struggle among rival claimants for the crown. Through scenes of political intrigue, popular unrest, pitched battles, and calculated betrayals, it shows how shifting alliances and personal ambition accelerate dynastic collapse and reshape leadership. The plays interweave public spectacle with intimate moments of downfall and remorse, exploring themes of legitimacy, governance, and the human cost of civil war. Scholarly apparatus accompanies the texts, offering prefatory and editorial commentary, variant readings, and notes on publication history.

fed SCENE IV. Another part of the field.

Alarum: excursions. Enter NORFOLK and forces fighting; to him CATESBY.

♦ Cate. Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!

The king enacts more wonders than a man,

♦ Daring an opposite to every danger:

His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,

5 Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death.

♦ Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!

Alarums. Enter KING RICHARD.

K. Rich. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

Cate. Withdraw, my lord; I’ll help you to a horse.

K. Rich. Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,

10 And I will stand the hazard of the die.

I think there be six Richmonds in the field;

Five have I slain to-day instead of him.

♦ A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! [Exeunt.