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William Shakespeare
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At four in the morning a messenger from Stanley tells Hastings that Stanley dreamed the boar razed off his helmet and warns of two separate councils. Hastings sends him back, calls the fears shallow, and says he and Catesby will share intelligence at the Tower.
Catesby probes whether Hastings will back Richard for the crown. Hastings swears he would lose his head first. Catesby answers that it is a vile thing to die unprepared; Hastings laughs that Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan fell that way, and trusts his closeness to Richard and Buckingham. Catesby adds in aside that the princes account Hastings's head upon the bridge.
Stanley arrives with the same warning and points to the lords at Pomfret who rode from London jocund and sure, yet were beheaded by day's end. Hastings celebrates their deaths, tips a pursuivant, chats with a priest, and tells Buckingham he stays dinner at the Tower. Buckingham replies he will stay supper too, although Hastings does not know it yet.
Past loyalty can blind you to present elimination when the predator uses your history as cover. Hastings mocks the boar dream, passes Catesby's crown test, and misses the aside about his head on the bridge.
Treat warnings from cautious allies and threats from loyal messengers as data, not noise, even when the person testing you was once on your side.
Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan die at Pomfret; at the Tower council Richard condemns Hastings without trial and displays his severed head to the Mayor At Pomfret, Ratcliffe leads Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan to execution. Rivers names the castle a bloody prison where Richard II was hacked to death..
What this chapter proves — the patterns beneath the scene
In this chapter: The Third Enemy Does the Work · Leave While It Looks Rude.
The cards below name the patterns this chapter proves — carry them with you into the original text.
The Third Enemy Does the Work
Catesby sounds Hastings on whether he will support Richard's rise. Hastings still trusts the old alliance and will not move against the princes. The test happens without the rest of the council in the room. By the time they gather, the verdict is already written.
Key Insight
Triangulation isolates the holdout before the public meeting. If someone only asks your loyalty in private, they may already be building the case they will use against you in public.
Leave While It Looks Rude
Stanley dreams the boar. A messenger says to fly before the boar pursues. Hastings will not incense the animal by looking afraid. He would rather have his crown of hair cut from his shoulders than see the crown so foul misplaced, and he still walks into the council that will kill him for if.
Key Insight
Pride in not looking paranoid is a luxury predators use. Flying early is not an insult to the boar. It is the only hour in which flight still works.
“To fly the boar, before the boar pursues, were to incense the boar to follow us.”
Chapter 10
Scena Secunda. Enter a Messenger to the Doore of Hastings. Mess. My Lord, my Lord Hast. Who knockes? Mess. One from the Lord Stanley Hast. What is't a Clocke? Mess. Vpon the stroke of foure. Enter Lord Hastings. Hast. Cannot my Lord Stanley sleepe these tedious Nights? Mess. So it appeares, by that I haue to say: First, he commends him to your Noble selfe Hast. What then? Mess. Then certifies your Lordship, that this Night He dreamt, the Bore had rased off his Helme: Besides, he sayes there are two Councels kept; And that may be determin'd at the…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
Hastings trusts Richard because of their past relationship, ignoring multiple warnings. Think of a time when you or someone you know trusted someone because of past relationship, only to be betrayed. Analyze what made the trust misplaced and what warning signs were ignored.
Write about a time when you trusted someone because of past relationship, only to discover they had changed or were manipulating you. What warning signs did you ignore? How can you balance trust with awareness?
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Other theme-by-theme analyses from this book.
Watch the funeral ring and the prayer book between two bishops: charm that arrives too fast and never has a self underneath.
See Richard weep over Hastings's head and kneel with a prayer book: feeling performed for the room, not felt.
Deep diving the literary elements.
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