Augh, Henry's jealousy of Robert de Vere, his continual jealousy of the dead, and guilt so intense it shows on the skin. Not at all difficult to imagine this as fact. And Richard's silence: to turn up as a ghost, just to turn away. The slow, enormous sense of inevitability (in the very literal meaning) here is so sad it is almost graceful - how history, for those of us in it after the events, always seems like fate.
Oh man, this comment made me squee so much. Thank you! I feel like the fate thing is probably another subconscious Shakespeare influence -- the whole history cycle (if you read it as a cycle, which I think is valid) has so much to do with deconstructing that trope, and indeed Shakespeare makes Henry himself flail about it in 2H4). And yes -- Henry in this fic has this whole thing about desire for death and desire for the dead getting tangled up in each other (parallelling his relationship to Richard -- does he want him or want to be him, and really, does he even know which is which?)
(The skin stuff is fairly cathartic, I have to admit. I have fairly severe psoriasis so occasionally I will inflict skin trauma on characters -- of course, it's arguably canon for Henry.)
Comment on let us meet them like necessities
lionpyh
Posted Wed 28 Dec 2011 09:22PM EST
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angevin2
Posted Mon 02 Jan 2012 01:18AM EST
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