How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #1
YORK
Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their
pillage,
And purchase friends and give to courtesans,
Still reveling like lords till all be gone;
While as the silly owner of the goods
Weeps over them and wrings his hapless hands,
And shakes his head and trembling stands aloof,
While all is shared and all is borne away,
Ready to starve and dare not touch his own.
So York must sit and fret and bite his tongue
While his own lands are bargained for and sold. (1.1.231-241)
York tells us he's just pretending to be on board with the king until he can get the crown for himself. He knows he's lying, but it doesn't seem to bother him, because he believes in what he's doing. The fact that he thinks of himself as a pirate just makes us wonder whether even pirates can justify their actions to themselves. Is York's ambition different from Margaret's and Suffolk's?
Quote #2
GLOUCESTER
As for your spiteful false objections,
Prove them, and I lie open to the law;
But God in mercy so deal with my soul
As I in duty love my king and country! (1.3.159-162)
Gloucester is a pretty straightforward type of guy: he comes right out and tells his challengers they are lying about him. He says he's always got Henry's best interest at heart, but if these people can prove that he's been doing anything wrong, then he'll be a liar. He plays around with the idea of lying and deception as a way of calling the other nobles' bluff.
Quote #3
GLOUCESTER
Then, Sander, sit there, the lying'st knave
in Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind,
thou mightst as well have known all our names as
thus to name the several colors we do wear. Sight
may distinguish of colors; but suddenly to nominate
them all, it is impossible. (2.1.139-144)
It looks like lying to get something from the king isn't limited to nobles. In fact, Simpcox goes out of his way to get to Henry's side by proclaiming he can see for the first time in his life. There's just one flaw in his plan: Gloucester's attention to detail. While everyone else is yelling "miracle," Gloucester gets the truth out of the guy with a little color test. Everyone agrees that Simpcox is pathetic, and he's compared to the other liars in the play… specifically, the nobles. Is Simpcox's lying different from their lying?