Begging & Poor, Eve, & the Protestant-Catholic Context for 2 Henry VI

A funny thing happened on the way to searching 2 Henry VI for instances of "beg" (five) and "poor" (14):

[Image: From the First Folio of 1623, via Folger Shakespeare Library. Creative Commons.] 

First, it is hard not to be struck by the idea that Shakespeare was writing at a time of Protestant-Catholic strife, in a divided country: He chose to write about the War of the Roses, a time when England was divided by the houses of Lancaster and York. Teachers who omit mention of this do their students a disservice.

Second, in 2 Henry VI, audiences are again (as in Hamlet) shown a variation of the theme of woman as an Eve figure, a source of corruption. In Hamlet, the prince complains about Gertrude's frailty and asks if she had a hand in killing his father; but in 2 Henry VI, Queen Margaret is having an affair with the Earl of Suffolk; if she is Eve, he is a serpent.

Third, while searching for "instances of "beg" and "poor," I was especially struck by the corruption of language, also a theme in Hamlet.

CORRUPTED LANGUAGE
While the tale of Lazarus and the rich man is straightforward in naming the beggar, things in 2 Henry VI are rarely so; truth is the first casualty in war (as many have observed, at least since Samuel Johnson in 1758).

*Emphasis* mine:

An honest Duke of Gloucester demonstrates sarcasm, describing "the *poor* King Reignier, whose large style / Agrees not with the leanness of his purse" (1.1).

The King is deceived to believe Simpcox was healed of blindness, and describes him as a "*poor* soul" (2.1).

Later, the King witnesses a fight between two men, supposedly used to prove who is telling the truth. The King, too blindly trusting in such things, observes,

And God in justice hath revealed to us
The truth and innocence of this *poor* fellow (2.3).

Queen Margaret and her lover, the Earl of Suffolk, suggest falsely that for King Henry to have his uncle the honest Duke of Gloucester serve as Lord Protector is like having the fox guard the hen-house, and Margaret describes her husband the king in this scenario as "*poor* chicken" (3.1).

Suffolk and Margaret demonstrate self-pity in describing Suffolk's banishment and Margaret's losses using the word "*poor*" (3.2).

Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, says she will not *beg* a favor (2.4).

The Earl of Warwick says he would force Suffolk to "*beg* pardon" on his knees for what he has said (3.2).

Before ordering Suffolk beheaded, a Lieutenant (called "captain" in dialogue) tells him, "reproach and *beggary* / Is crept into the palace of our king. / And all by thee" (4.1). This beggary is not of Lazarus' kind, but more dishonorable, leeches among the nobles seeking their own advancement.

As in Hamlet, honest use of language stands out (Gloucester, 3.1; Alexander Iden, 4.10, 5.1). Even Jack Cade (on this occasion more sympathetic) speaks truth about injustices:

Thou hast appointed
justices of peace, to call *poor* men before them
about matters they were not able to answer.
Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and because
they could not read, thou hast hanged them.... (4.7).

Precursor to the US prison-industrial complex?

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I have mentioned in previous blog posts that I use the Advanced Search Engine at OpenSourceShakespeare to search for instances of particular words in Shakespeare's plays. I'd like to explain how I do that, in case any of my readers may benefit. There may also be among my readers those who are much better at this than I am, so feel free to leave comments about your experience or recommendations.

First, one should note that there are some searches that might overwhelm the search engine: If a word or phrase appears too often in the works of Shakespeare, the search engine may list, alphabetically, some of the plays where that word or phrase is found, but one has to pay attention to see if other plays were cut off.

Second, some tips for narrowing the searches:

If you search only for "beg," the search will include words you don't want in which "beg" appears, such as begin, began, begun, beguile, begotten, etc. So besides searching FOR a word, it's helpful to include in the advanced search some examples of things you're NOT looking for.

If you enter "beg" as the word you're searching for, and begu as something you're NOT searching for, then this will eliminate both "begun" and "beguile." You have a limited number of options, so it can help to be a bit judicious about what you're searching for, and what you're not. Here's an example of what I did in searching for "beg/beggar/begging/beggars" in Taming of the Shrew:

If you're interested in seeing EVERY instance of "beg" and "poor" that I found in preparing for today's blog post, go to OpenSourceShakespeare's advanced search page, and try it.

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INDEX OF POSTS IN THIS SERIES ON THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS:
See this link:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/02/index-series-on-rich-man-and-beggar.html


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Hamlet quotes: All quotes from Hamlet (in this particular series on The Rich Man and Lazarus in Hamlet) are taken from the Modern (spelling), Editor's Version at InternetShakespeare via the University of Victoria in Canada.
- To find them in the first place, I often use the advanced search feature at OpenSourceShakespeare.org.

Bible quotes from the Geneva translation, widely available to people of Shakespeare's time, are taken from an internet source somewhat close to their original spelling, from studybible.info, and in a modern spelling, from biblegateway.com.
- Quotes from the Bishop's bible, also available in Shakespeare's lifetime and read in church, are taken from studybible.info.
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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