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It is reported, mighty sovereign,
That good Duke Humphrey traitorously is murdered
By Suffolk and the Cardinal Beaufort’s means.
The commons, like an angry hive of bees
That want their leader, scatter up and down
And care not who they sting in his revenge.
Myself have calmed their spleenful mutiny,
Until they hear the order of his death. (3.2.122–29)
Warwick addresses these words to Henry in the immediate aftermath of Gloucester’s murder. He explains that news of the Protector’s death has reached the masses, who held this man in high esteem and now suspect foul play at the hands of Suffolk and Winchester. In a stirring image, Warwick likens the mob of commoners to “an angry hive of bees” that “care not who they sting in [their leader’s] revenge.” Roused to the brink of “spleenful mutiny,” the commoners exert their power for the first time in the play, demanding that Suffolk be punished. As the mob threatens to break into the hall, Henry is quick to assent to their demand, ordering Suffolk’s banishment.
O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder
Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges!
Small things make base men proud. This villain here,
Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more
Than Bargulus, the strong Illyrian pirate.
Drones suck not eagles’ blood, but rob beehives.
It is impossible that I should die
By such a lowly vassal as thyself.
Thy words move rage and not remorse in me. (4.1.104–112)
Suffolk directs these words to the Captain of the pirates who captured him while he was crossing the English Channel. The Captain has confronted Suffolk with charges of treason on account of the marriage he brokered between Henry and Margaret, which involved the loss of large territories in France. Despising how Suffolk’s political ambition has weakened the kingdom, the Captain condemns him to death. In his response, Suffolk shows open disdain for the commoner who would dare threaten a noble. He’ll soon realize, however, that his boast is pointless and that he will indeed die at the hands of “such a lowly vassal.” This exchange not only shows the intensity of the conflict between the people and the state; it also demonstrates that commoners do indeed have power.
FIRST REBEL I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.
SECOND REBEL So he had need, for ’tis threadbare. Well, I say it was never merry world in England since gentlemen came up.
FIRST REBEL O, miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in handicraftsmen.
SECOND REBEL The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons.
FIRST REBEL Nay more, the King’s Council are no good workmen.
SECOND REBEL True; and yet it is said “Labor in thy vocation”; which is as much to say as “Let the magistrates be laboring men”; and therefore should we be magistrates. (4.2.5–20)
As these two rebels discuss the popular uprising led by Jack Cade, they help illuminate the depth of the commoners’ frustration with the ruling class. These men describe their sense that the nobility scorn them and see no value in the work they do. Yet they know they play an essential role, as suggested in their joking suggestion that Cade is a lowly “clothier” who has taken it upon himself to “dress the commonwealth.” In other words, they cast him as an artisan whose skill is politically necessary—it’s the tailor, and not the politician, who is best suited to clothe the “threadbare” kingdom. This logic of reversal foreshadows the topsy-turvy chaos that will ensue as the popular rebellion gains ground. The commoners want to flip the usual hierarchies upside down, such that “laboring men” become “magistrates,” which the magistrates are reduced to nothing.
