WHAT IS THIS ABOUT? I've had a hankering to read and half-liveblog all of Shakespeare's plays (again)... in chronological order, onward from Henry VI, Part 1: written by Shakespeare (b. 1564) in 1591. I'm using an old Complete Works of Shakespeare edition from the Clarendon Press.
See also: Previous Henry VI blog posts:
- Act I Scene 1: Henry V's funeral
- Scenes 2, 3 & 4: French dauphin meets Joan of Arc, Duke of Gloucester clashes with Bishop of Winchester, the Earl of Salisbury is killed in fighting in Orléans
- Scenes 5 & 6: Joan of Arc fights Lord Talbot, French celebrate lifting of siege on Orléans
- Act II Scene 1: The English reconquer Orléans
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| Aurelia Franciae civitas ad Ligeri flu: sita A map of Orléans from 1581 to 1588 Source: Civitates Orbis Terrarum. Liber tertius. Köln, G. Kempen, 1581-88. Bibliothèque municipale d'Orléans. via Wikimedia Commons |
4:45 p.m.
ACT II.
Scene II.
The Duke of Bedford poetically declares to England's forces, within the city walls of Orléans:
The day begins to break, and night is fled,
Whose pitchy mantle over-veil'd the earth.
Here sound retreat, and cease our hot pursuit.
Lord Talbot has retrieved the corpse of the Earl of Salisbury, whom he had seen dying in Act I:
Now have I paid my vow unto his soul;
For every drop of blood was drawn from him
There hath at least five Frenchmen died tonight.
But one fact dims his satisfaction: France's leaders have not fallen into his men's clutches.
The Duke of Burgundy, an ally of England, chimes in, reporting that he thinks he saw Charles VII and Joan of Arc escaping from Orléans:
Myself—as far as I could well discern
For smoke and dusky vapors of the night—
Am sure I scar'd the Dauphin and his trull,
When arm in arm they both came swiftly running [...]
*
Then a messenger arrives, on behalf of the Countess of Auvergne.
The noblewoman requests that Lord Talbot visit her castle, since she has heard of his prowess in battle. She wants to lay eyes on "the man/Whose glory fills the world with loud report."
(This sub-plot resembles the knightly romances of the Middle Ages, and epics like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I think. I can't recall Shakespeare's later works doing the same, but may be mistaken.)
Lord Talbot, outwardly charmed, accepts her invitation.
Inwardly, he has reservations and plans of his own. He calls one of his soldiers:
Come hither, captain. [Whispers.] You perceive my mind.
Capt. I do, my lord, and mean accordingly.
***
Scene III.
We meet again at Auvergne.
The Countess speaks to her porter. But she reveals in a monologue afterward that she has laid her own plot against Lord Talbot.
When Talbot arrives, she is shocked at first, since he is small of stature:
It cannot be this weak and writhled* shrimp *[wrinkled]
Should strike such terror to his enemies.
Talbot turns away, looking for proof of his identity. But when the messenger detain him, he insists that he is indeed Talbot. Upon which the Countess of Auvergne tells him that he is now her prisoner:
Long time thy shadow hath been thrall to me,
For in my gallery thy picture hangs:
But now the substance shall endure the like.
And I will chain these legs and arms of thine,
That hast by tyranny, these many years,
Wasted our country, slain our citizens,
And sent our sons and husbands captivate.
Talbot laughs uproariously. He and the Countess exchange words. Like Schrödinger's cat (if Schrödinger's cat could have spoken) he tells her: "You are deceiv'd, my substance is not here [...]"
The Countess exclaims, bemused,
This is a riddling merchant for the nonce;
He will be here, and yet he is not here:
How can these contrarieties agree?
Her English guest solves the riddle: he winds his horn. At this signal, English soldiers burst through the doors. Lord Talbot is free.
His hostess apologizes profusely.
Victorious Talbot! pardon my abuse:
I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited,
And more than may be gather'd by thy shape.
Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath;
For I am sorry that with reverence
I did not entertain thee as thou art.
Talbot responds, "Be not dismay'd, fair lady [...]",
What you have done hath not offended me;
Nor other satisfaction do I crave,
But only, with your patience, that we may
Taste of your wine and see what cates* you have; [food]
Delighted, the Countess of Auvergne lets bygones be bygones:
With all my heart, and think me honoured
To feast so great a warrior in my house.
(As the Countess had likely invested years into wishing for his downfall and weeks plotting the details, this about-face is a little sudden. But I guess she was happy to be alive?)
***
Historical Note: In real life, Lord Talbot appears to have been a disagreeable fellow, also one of many English sent to Ireland on his government's behalf to make the local population's life a misery.
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