How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #10
[…] in all our quest of greatness,
like wanton boys whose pastime is their care,
we follow after bubbles blown in the air. (5.4.64-66)
Why the hell are we doing any of this? Thanks, Bosola, we were kind of wondering ourselves. Princes and courtiers alike are caught in the vicious cycle described by Bosola in Quotes 3 and 4, but what's the payoff? "Greatness" is fleeting and, even in the moment, immaterial—this image is particularly interesting because it figures power, and by extension the terrible social apparatus that supports it, as something that's basically imaginary.