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Society and Class
Oh, boy: we've got kings, queens, nobles, and commoners all thrown together on one stage, and everybody wants a bigger piece of the pie than they already have. Did someone say class issues?
Class comes up pretty often in Henry VI, Part 2, but nowhere more clearly than in the scenes with John Cade and his crew. Cade's rebellion hinges on the issue of republicanism: he's against the monarchy, and he's fighting to get power away from the king and into the hands of the people.
Equal rights and representation in the government: sounds legit, right? What if we told you that Cade also wants to have literate people murdered? And that he wants free access to any woman, anytime? And that he goes around killing anyone who gets in his way? And that he starts talking about what will happen when he's king?
Yeah, some wires got crossed somewhere. Turns out the class issues facing this society are pretty complex, and there may be no easy answers.
Jack Cade is more interested in being king than he is in changing the social class system.
While Henry VI, Part 2 seems to celebrate social upheaval, it also ridicules ambitious attempts to cross class boundaries.
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