Dead as a doornail Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

Do violent TV shows and video games actually make kids more violent? Maybe. But if they do, then you're going to have to lock up Shakespeare with a MA-17+ rating, too, because the body count in this play is out of control.

Cade is a man of action. And what this quote is really getting at is his philosophy in life. He wants to make things—and people—dead as a doornail. He doesn't care who or what it is. He kills anyone who gets in his way, and even some people who don't (like Iden). Sometimes his motives are simply that people are literate. Other times he isn't provoked. But all the time, he's violent.

As with all of Shakespeare's tragedies and most of his histories, Cade piles on the violence. You've probably heard people asking whether the violence is necessary or gratuitous in the latest James Bond movie or Call of Duty video game. And in a lot of ways, this play is asking the same thing here.

Is there a good reason for all the violence in Henry VI, Part II, or did people in the 16th century like to watch blood being spilled just as much as we do? You tell us.