Page:Richard II (1921) Yale.djvu/132

120 You must call him Rutland now. As a sequel to the disclosures of Bagot indicated in IV. i. 1–90, Aumerle had been deprived of the title of Duke of Albemarle, reverting to that of Earl of Rutland.

Figurative language for 'Who are now the favorites at the court of the new (and upstart) king?'

Ho, who is within there? The regular formula for calling a servant in Elizabethan times. 'Within' refers to the space behind the wainscot partition across one end of the room.

unthrifty son. Henry, Prince of Wales, the Prince Hal of 1 and 2 Henry IV, was at this time twelve years old, but Shakespeare presents him as older than this, anticipating the treatment of him in the later plays.

favour. It was customary at tournaments for a knight to wear on his helmet a glove or similar token bestowed by his lady-love.

'The Beggar and the King.' Alluding to the title of the old ballad, King Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid. (Riverside British Poets, Ballads, iv. 195.)

brother-in-law. John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, who had married Elizabeth, Bolingbroke's sister.

Shakespeare chose the last of three accounts given by Holinshed of Richard's death: namely, that he was starved to death by being served rich food and not permitted to eat of it; that he starved himself, being 'so beaten out of heart'; and that Exton was set on to murder him. The Folio, which supplies the act and scene division throughout the play, has no indication of a new scene here. The Quartos, which do not indicate scene divisions, simply have the stage direction, 'Manet Sir Pierce Exton &c.'

The date of this scene is traditionally