Carlisle off the hook, but a reminder of his bloody prophecy (5.6.19-29) #KingedUnKinged

Enter Percy and [the Bishop of] Carlisle [as prisoner]

PERCY                        The grand conspirator, Abbot of Westminster,

With clog of conscience and sour melancholy

Hath yielded up his body to the grave;

But here is Carlisle, living to abide

Thy kingly doom and sentence of his pride.

BOLINGBROKE          Carlisle, this is your doom:

Choose out some secret place, some reverend room

More than thou hast, and with it joy thy life.

So as thou liv’st in peace, die free from strife,

For though mine enemy thou hast ever been,

High sparks of honour in thee have I seen.            (5.6.19-29)

 

Ah, Harry Percy, Northumberland’s son, future Hotspur: it’s significant that he’s here at the close (like his father); they’re both going to be much more prominent in 1 Henry IV, as conspirators and rebels themselves. But here Percy is reporting on the Abbot of Westminster (historically, not really a grand conspirator, although certainly a supporter who provided a meeting place for the rebels): at any rate, he’s dead, has yielded up his body to the grave, with clog of conscience, troubled by his guilt, clogged by it, as if bearing a burden or dragging a weight behind him like a pet monkey (it’s a dismissive, insulting image, especially for a churchman) and with sour melancholy. Not a good death then, uneasy, ashamed, distressed. Carlisle survives though, living to abide, await thy kingly doom, to hear his sentence, the punishment for his pride, his over-reaching. (Although within the play Carlisle has a sternly moral voice, eloquent and admonitory in his spiritual counsel, his historical predecessor was really a cleric in name only, and was one of Richard’s closest supporters and friends.)

Bolingbroke takes the opportunity to be magnanimous: Carlisle will not be sentenced to death, or even imprisoned. Rather, Bolingbroke directs him to choose out some secret place, some reverend room, more than thou hast (this last suggesting that he’s been in prison; perhaps we imagine the Tower?). He is in effect to go into internal exile, retire from public life, perhaps by going into a monastery. (Historically Carlisle ended up with a country living, and survived until 1409.) And he is to joy his life: Bolingbroke mostly means that he is to enjoy, remain in possession of, his life, that is, he is not going to be executed, but there’s also the ironic suggestion that Carlisle should enjoy his life, count his blessings (and his lucky stars), while also conceding that a quiet life may well not be to the liking of this courtier bishop who’s been a leading figure on the national stage. So long as he lives in peace, keeps his head down and stays out of trouble, Carlisle will die free from strife; he’ll be left alone and not prosecuted. For though mine enemy thou hast ever been high sparks of honour in thee have I seen. Carlisle’s very presence in this scene, and Bolingbroke’s assessment of his character, allows Bolingbroke to be magnanimous and pragmatic—executing a bishop never a good look—and also to acknowledge Carlisle’s moral and spiritual authority and gravitas. But it’s also a reminder of Carlisle’s earlier prophecy, or curse, warning that England will be soaked in blood, torn apart, called the field of Golgotha and dead men’s skulls if Bolingbroke raises this house against this house by deposing Richard. And showing mercy to Carlisle won’t be enough to avert that catastrophe, the years of rebellion which will dog the reign of Bolingbroke as Henry IV. Especially if he’s dressed in monkish black, Carlisle can have a brooding, ominous presence in this scene.

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