Eleanor’s Monologue from Henry VI, Part 2 (Act 1, Scene 2)

ELEANOR’S FIRST SPEECH:

Original: Why droops my lord, like over-ripen’d corn,
Modern: Why are you so sad, my lord, like grain that’s too ripe and heavy,

Original: Hanging the head at Ceres’ plenteous load?
Modern: Drooping down from its own weight?

Original: Why doth the great Duke Humphrey knit his brows,
Modern: Why does the great Duke Humphrey furrow his forehead,

Original: As frowning at the favours of the world?
Modern: As if he’s angry at all the good fortune the world offers?

Original: Why are thine eyes fixed to the sullen earth,
Modern: Why are your eyes staring down at the gloomy ground,

Original: Gazing on that which seems to dim thy sight?
Modern: Looking at something that seems to cloud your vision?

Original: What seest thou there? King Henry’s diadem,
Modern: What do you see there? King Henry’s crown,

Original: Enchased with all the honours of the world?
Modern: Decorated with all the honors and jewels in the world?

Original: If so, gaze on, and grovel on thy face,
Modern: If that’s what you see, then keep staring and get down on your face,

Original: Until thy head be circled with the same.
Modern: Until that crown is placed on your own head.

Original: Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious gold.
Modern: Reach out your hand and grab that glorious golden crown.

Original: What, is’t too short? I’ll lengthen it with mine:
Modern: What, is your arm too short? I’ll extend it with my own arm:

Original: And, having both together heaved it up,
Modern: And once we’ve both lifted it up together,

Original: We’ll both together lift our heads to heaven,
Modern: We’ll both hold our heads high toward heaven,

Original: And never more abase our sight so low
Modern: And never again lower our gaze so far down

Original: As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground.
Modern: That we’d even bother to look at the ground.

ELEANOR’S SECOND SPEECH:

Original: What dream’d my lord? tell me, and I’ll requite it
Modern: What did you dream, my lord? Tell me, and I’ll repay you

Original: With sweet rehearsal of my morning’s dream.
Modern: By telling you about my own dream from this morning.

ELEANOR’S THIRD SPEECH:

Original: Tut, this was nothing but an argument
Modern: Oh nonsense, this dream was nothing more than a sign

Original: That he that breaks a stick of Gloucester’s grove
Modern: That anyone who breaks even a twig from Gloucester’s forest

Original: Shall lose his head for his presumption.
Modern: Will lose his head for being so bold.

Original: But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:
Modern: But listen to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:

Original: Methought I sat in seat of majesty
Modern: I dreamed that I sat on the throne of majesty

Original: In the cathedral church of Westminster,
Modern: In Westminster Cathedral,

Original: And in that chair where kings and queens are crown’d;
Modern: In that very chair where kings and queens are crowned;

Original: Where Henry and dame Margaret kneel’d to me
Modern: Where Henry and Lady Margaret knelt down before me

Original: And on my head did set the diadem.
Modern: And placed the crown on my head.

ELEANOR’S FOURTH SPEECH:

Original: What, what, my lord! are you so choleric
Modern: What, what, my lord! Are you so angry

Original: With Eleanor, for telling but her dream?
Modern: With Eleanor just for telling you her dream?

Original: Next time I’ll keep my dreams unto myself,
Modern: Next time I’ll keep my dreams to myself,

Original: And not be cheque’d.
Modern: And not be scolded.

In Act I, Scene 2 of “Henry VI, Part 2,” the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are at their home when the Duchess reveals a troubling dream she had the previous night. In her dream, her staff of office was broken in two by Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Somerset, who then placed their heads where Gloucester’s should have been. She also dreamed that the heads of the Duke of Suffolk and the Duke of Buckingham trampled upon her husband’s. The Duchess interprets these dreams as prophecies and urges her husband to seize greater power and claim the crown. Duke Humphrey rebukes her sharply for such treasonous talk, reminding her that King Henry is the rightful ruler and that he himself is loyal to the crown. He warns her to abandon such dangerous ambitions and exits to meet with the King.

After Gloucester’s departure, the Duchess summons Sir John Hume, a priest she has been paying to arrange a meeting with Margery Jourdain, a witch, and Roger Bolingbroke, a conjurer. She seeks their help in using sorcery to further her ambitious plans. Hume agrees to arrange the meeting, and the Duchess exits. Left alone, Hume reveals in a soliloquy that he is actually working as a double agent—he has been bribed by the Duke of Suffolk and Cardinal Beaufort to encourage the Duchess in her treasonous pursuits involving witchcraft. Hume acknowledges that he profits from both sides while anticipating that the Duchess’s actions will lead to the downfall of both her and her husband, Duke Humphrey of Gloucester.

Henry VI, Part II opens with King Henry VI’s marriage to Margaret of Anjou, which was arranged as part of a peace treaty with France. The marriage proves politically disastrous, as Henry has agreed to surrender Maine and Anjou to France and provide no dowry, angering the English nobles. The Duke of Gloucester, Henry’s uncle and Lord Protector, opposes the marriage terms, while Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Suffolk, who arranged the marriage, work to undermine Gloucester’s influence. Queen Margaret quickly emerges as an ambitious figure who resents Gloucester’s power and begins plotting against him alongside Suffolk and other nobles.

The central conflict develops around the destruction of Gloucester, known as “Good Duke Humphrey.” Through a series of machinations involving his wife Eleanor’s involvement with conjurers and fortune-tellers, Gloucester is stripped of his position as Lord Protector. Eleanor is banished after being convicted of witchcraft, leaving Gloucester vulnerable. Margaret, Suffolk, Cardinal Beaufort, and others conspire to have Gloucester arrested on charges of treason. Before he can defend himself in trial, Gloucester is murdered in his bed, likely on Suffolk’s orders, shocking King Henry and the common people who loved Gloucester.

The aftermath of Gloucester’s murder destabilizes the realm further. Suffolk is banished by Henry after popular outcry against him, but he is captured and killed by pirates during his exile. Cardinal Beaufort dies tormented by guilt over Gloucester’s death. Meanwhile, Jack Cade leads a popular rebellion in Kent, claiming to be John Mortimer and demanding justice for the common people. Cade’s forces march on London, causing chaos and executing several nobles and officials before the rebellion is eventually suppressed. The play concludes with the return of Richard, Duke of York, from Ireland with an army, ostensibly to remove the remaining “traitors” around the king but actually to press his own claim to the throne, setting the stage for the Wars of the Roses that will dominate the final play in the trilogy.