No Fear Shakespeare
Henry IV Part 1
Get this No Fear to go!
Act 4, Scene 1, Page 3
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DOUGLAS
Faith, and so we should, where now remains
A sweet reversion. We may boldly spend
Upon the hope of what is to come in.
A comfort of retirement lives in this.
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DOUGLAS
That’s right. We have a chance at a rich inheritance; we can take a risk now, based on the promise of success to come. That gives us comfort, something to fall back on.
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HOTSPUR
A rendezvous, a home to fly unto,
If that the devil and mischance look big
Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.
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HOTSPUR
It gives us a refuge, a home we can always run to, in case the devil or misfortune ruins these early plans.
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WORCESTER
But yet I would your father had been here.
The quality and hair of our attempt
Brooks no division. It will be thought
By some that know not why he is away
That wisdom, loyalty, and mere dislike
Of our proceedings kept the Earl from hence.
And think how such an apprehension
May turn the tide of fearful faction
And breed a kind of question in our cause.
For well you know, we of the off'ring side
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrament,
And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence
The eye of reason may pry in upon us.
This absence of your father’s draws a curtain
That shows the ignorant a kind of fear
Before not dreamt of.
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WORCESTER
I still wish your father were here. Our endeavor here won’t withstand any division. People who don’t realize your father is sick will assume that he knows some kind of secret, or that he is loyal to the King, or that he doesn’t approve of how we’re handling things. And just imagine how that kind of mistrust could frighten our more timid supporters, and lead them to doubt us. You know very well that the challenger must always avoid careful examination. We must seal every crack, every loophole, which skeptics might look through to see weaknesses. Your father’s absence draws the curtains back and reveals frightful things to ignorant people, who had never had a reason to fear before.
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