Henry VI, Part 3 Famous Quotes

O tiger's heart wrapt in a woman's hide!

York's denunciation of Queen Margaret in Act 1, Scene 4, as she mocks him with a napkin soaked in his son's blood — the line became famous enough to be parodied by a rival playwright as evidence against the young Shakespeare.

My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones.

Henry VI alone in Act 3, Scene 1, having been ousted from his throne — his argument is that true kingship is internal, which is a beautiful idea and a practically useless one. He is immediately captured by keepers.

I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear.

Richard stabbing Henry VI in the Tower in Act 5, Scene 6 — the self-description is his most compressed statement of what he is. He uses the absence of three things to define a fourth: the capacity for murder without cost.

The smallest worm will turn being trodden on.

Clifford in Act 2, Scene 2, arguing that even the weakest creature will fight when cornered — the proverb is being used to argue against retreat, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for most characters in the play.

For how can tyrants safely govern home, Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?

Margaret's political argument in Act 3, Scene 3 for seeking French alliance — the word 'tyrants' is how she describes anyone opposing her cause, and 'purchase' here means secure rather than buy.

What scene of death hath Roscius now to act?

Henry VI in the Tower in Act 5, Scene 6, seeing Richard enter — Roscius was the most celebrated actor of ancient Rome, and Henry asks what death scene this actor has come to perform. The line is his own death sentence, spoken before he knows it.

What valour were it, when a cur doth grin, For one to thrust his hand between his teeth?

Clifford before York's capture in Act 1, Scene 4, arguing that courage against a weaker enemy is not real courage — the cur image turns York's defiance into something toothless before he has spoken a word.

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind; The thief doth fear each bush an officer.

Richard in Act 5, Scene 6 — an observation about guilt and paranoia delivered by a man committing murder. The distance between the maxim and his own situation is characteristic of his intelligence.

So flies the reckless shepherd from the wolf; So first the harmless sheep doth yield his fleece.

Henry VI's reflection in Act 5, Scene 6, just before being murdered — he has spent the play as king without being able to protect his kingdom, and the shepherd metaphor is his honest assessment of his own failure.

I had rather lie in prison.

Lady Grey to King Edward IV in Act 3, Scene 2, when he offers her her lands in exchange for becoming his mistress — a line that turns Edward's proposition into a clear choice between dignity and reward. She eventually becomes queen.

To be a queen in bondage is more vile Than is a slave in base servility.

Margaret at York's humiliation in Act 1, Scene 4, establishing the scale of her contempt — she defines queenship not by title but by freedom, and by her own logic what she is doing to York makes her no queen at all.

Why, how now, sons and brother! at a strife?

York entering in Act 1, Scene 2 to find his sons arguing — a brief moment of domestic interruption in a play that is otherwise entirely war and murder. The normalcy is immediately dissolved by the arrival of messengers.

Fie, charity, for shame! Be not so curst.

Edward to Lady Grey in Act 3, Scene 2, attempting to soften her refusal — his wooing is entirely pragmatic and she knows it. The scene shows Shakespeare already interested in characters who see through powerful men's pretences.

My mind exceeds the compass of her wheel.

Henry VI in Act 4, Scene 6, briefly restored to the throne and describing his own mind as exceeding Fortune's wheel — a moment of self-possession in a play where he has almost none. It does not last.

Sweet rest his soul! Fly, lords, and save yourselves; For Warwick bids you all farewell.

Warwick dying in Act 5, Scene 2, after the Battle of Barnet — the kingmaker who raised Edward IV and later changed sides dies blessing his enemies and ordering his friends to flee. He is the most pragmatic man in the play.