BOY: As young as I am, I have observed these three
swashers. I am boy to all three; but all three, though they would
serve me, could not be man to me; for indeed three such antics
do not amount to a man. For Bardolph, he is white-livered and
red-faced; by the means whereof 'a faces it out, but fights not.
For Pistol, he hath a killing tongue and a quiet sword; by the
means whereof 'a breaks word and keeps whole weapons. For Nym,
he hath heard that men of few words are the best men, and therefore
he scorns to say his prayers, lest 'a should be thought a coward;
but his few bad words are matched with as few good deeds, for
'a never broke any man's head but his own, and that was against
a post when he was drunk. They will steal anything, and call
it purchase. Bardolph stole a lute-case, bore it twelve leagues,
and sold it for three halfpence. Nym and Bardolph are sworn brothers
in filching, and in Calais they stole a fire-shovel. I knew by
that piece of service the men would carry coals. They would have
me as familiar with men's pockets as their gloves or handkerchers;
which makes much against my manhood, if I should take from another's
pocket to put into mine; for it is plain pocketing up of wrongs.
I must leave them and seek some better service. Their villainy
goes against my weak stomach, and therefore I must cast it up.
Biographical aspects of the Sonnets - Examines the worth of Shakespeare's
sonnets in piecing together clues as to the nature of his romantic
life.
Doubtful Plays of Shakespeare - Analysis of evidence supporting the
claim of Shakespearean authorship of several questionable Elizabethan
plays.
Greene's Jealousy of Shakespeare - As early as 1592, Shakespeare's dramatic
work had excited the envy and indignation of his contemporaries,
including the accomplished scholar and dramatist, Robert Greene.
Shakespeare Index - An index of articles on to the Elizabethan dramatist.
The Shakespeare-Bacon Theory - Analysis of the theory that the plays
of William Shakespeare were not written by the man whose biography
we are familiar with, but rather under pseudonym by Lord Chancellor
Francis Bacon.
