BOLINGBROKE This and much more, much more than twice all this
Condemns you to the death. See them delivered over
To execution and the hand of death.
BUSHY More welcome is the stroke of death to me
Than Bolingbroke to England. Lords, farewell.
GREEN My comfort is that heaven will take our souls
And plague injustice with the pains of hell.
BOLINGBROKE My lord Northumberland, see them dispatched.
[Exeunt Northumberland and others with the prisoners] (3.1.28-35)
Bolingbroke is totally in control of this. He’s set out his carefully constructed charges against Bushy and Green, not constructed in the sense of fabricated, but calculatedly framed to give a sense of comprehensiveness: the wrongs done to him personally; the moral turpitude; the general corruption and exploitation of the King’s weaknesses. And he’s justifying, not persuading; they are going to die, imminently, no matter what he says or what they say. The eloquence and rhetorical finesse is a substitute for due process, and might obscure the fact that this is most definitely an extra-judicial, summary execution. And I could say more, much more, he adds—but I’ve said enough. This is enough to condemn you to the death. He’s got people willing to carry out his orders, either personally or (more likely) with soldiers who will act as executioners.. There’s no chance for Bushy and Green to plead, but they die defiantly, Bushy at least explicitly loyal to England: I’d rather die than see Bolingbrokein England (perhaps, even, as King of England)? And a final courtesy, which might be ironised: Lords, farewell. You’re the traitors. You’re the peers of the realm, and you’re siding with the rebel, betraying your allegiance to the King. Green is brusquer: you’ll go to hell for this, he says, effectively. We’re innocent, heaven will take our souls, and this injustice will eventually be punished by God. (It’s almost a throwaway line. It may well come back to haunt Bolingbroke.) The farewell/hell rhyme is pretty half-hearted, and Bolingbroke isn’t even listening. My lord Northumberland, see them dispatched. So it’s Northumberland whose eager loyalty, whose keenness in being first to Bolingbroke and getting as close to him as possible, is being rewarded. He’s perhaps partly being asked to prove himself: if you want to be my deputy, in effect, you carry out orders, and you do the dirty work. Bolingbroke means business, again, and he needs to know that the men who have come out on his side will do as he says, even up to the point of killing more or less in cold blood. An early modern audience would probably assume beheading (suggested by Bushy’s stroke of death and seen rather graphically in the Hollow Crown version; I am not watching it to fill in any more details, shudder), although Bushy and Green could not impossibly have nooses around their necks when they’re brought on. In modern dress productions, shots might be heard, either from off-stage or even on. I think I’ve seen both; in a small cast, modern dress, Northumberland might well draw a pistol himself as they go off-stage. Bags over the head are a possibility. Efficiently, cannily, ruthlessly done by Bolingbroke. His hands indeed remain clean, more or less.
