Chapter: SCENE 3.

                London. Before the Tower gates

       Enter the DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, with his serving-men
                       in blue coats

  GLOUCESTER. I am come to survey the Tower this day;
    Since Henry's death, I fear, there is conveyance.
    Where be these warders that they wait not here?
    Open the gates; 'tis Gloucester that calls.
  FIRST WARDER.  [Within]  Who's there that knocks so
    imperiously?
  FIRST SERVING-MAN. It is the noble Duke of Gloucester.
  SECOND WARDER.  [Within]  Whoe'er he be, you may not be
    let in.
  FIRST SERVING-MAN. Villains, answer you so the Lord
    Protector?
  FIRST WARDER.  [Within]  The Lord protect him! so we
    answer him.
    We do no otherwise than we are will'd.
  GLOUCESTER. Who willed you, or whose will stands but
    mine?
    There's none Protector of the realm but I.
    Break up the gates, I'll be your warrantize.
    Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms?
                  [GLOUCESTER'S men rush at the Tower gates, and
                         WOODVILLE the Lieutenant speaks within]
  WOODVILLE.  [Within]  What noise is this? What traitors
    have we here?
  GLOUCESTER. Lieutenant, is it you whose voice I hear?
    Open the gates; here's Gloucester that would enter.
  WOODVILLE.  [Within]  Have patience, noble Duke, I may
    not open;
    The Cardinal of Winchester forbids.
    From him I have express commandment
    That thou nor none of thine shall be let in.
  GLOUCESTER. Faint-hearted Woodville, prizest him fore me?
    Arrogant Winchester, that haughty prelate
    Whom Henry, our late sovereign, ne'er could brook!
    Thou art no friend to God or to the King.
    Open the gates, or I'll shut thee out shortly.
  SERVING-MEN. Open the gates unto the Lord Protector,
    Or we'll burst them open, if that you come not quickly.

       Enter to the PROTECTOR at the Tower gates WINCHESTER
                   and his men in tawny coats

  WINCHESTER. How now, ambitious Humphry! What means
    this?
  GLOUCESTER. Peel'd priest, dost thou command me to be
    shut out?
  WINCHESTER. I do, thou most usurping proditor,
    And not Protector of the King or realm.
  GLOUCESTER. Stand back, thou manifest conspirator,
    Thou that contrived'st to murder our dead lord;
    Thou that giv'st whores indulgences to sin.
    I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat,
    If thou proceed in this thy insolence.
  WINCHESTER. Nay, stand thou back; I will not budge a foot.
    This be Damascus; be thou cursed Cain,
    To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt.
  GLOUCESTER. I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back.
    Thy scarlet robes as a child's bearing-cloth
    I'll use to carry thee out of this place.
  WINCHESTER. Do what thou dar'st; I beard thee to thy face.
  GLOUCESTER. What! am I dar'd and bearded to my face?
    Draw, men, for all this privileged place
    Blue-coats to tawny-coats. Priest, beware your beard;
    I mean to tug it, and to cuff you soundly;
    Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat;
    In spite of Pope or dignities of church,
    Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down.
  WINCHESTER. Gloucester, thou wilt answer this before the
    Pope.
  GLOUCESTER. Winchester goose! I cry 'A rope, a rope!'
    Now beat them hence; why do you let them stay?
    Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep's array.
    Out, tawny-coats! Out, scarlet hypocrite!

         Here GLOUCESTER'S men beat out the CARDINAL'S
        men; and enter in the hurly burly the MAYOR OF
                  LONDON and his OFFICERS

  MAYOR. Fie, lords! that you, being supreme magistrates,
    Thus contumeliously should break the peace!
  GLOUCESTER. Peace, Mayor! thou know'st little of my wrongs:
    Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor King,
    Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use.
  WINCHESTER. Here's Gloucester, a foe to citizens;
    One that still motions war and never peace,
    O'ercharging your free purses with large fines;
    That seeks to overthrow religion,
    Because he is Protector of the realm,
    And would have armour here out of the Tower,
    To crown himself King and suppress the Prince.
  GLOUCESTER. I will not answer thee with words, but blows.
                                      [Here they skirmish again]
  MAYOR. Nought rests for me in this tumultuous strife
    But to make open proclamation.
    Come, officer, as loud as e'er thou canst,
    Cry.
  OFFICER.  [Cries]  All manner of men assembled here in arms
    this day against God's peace and the King's, we charge
    and command you, in his Highness' name, to repair to
    your several dwelling-places; and not to wear, handle, or
    use, any sword, weapon, or dagger, henceforward, upon
    pain of death.
  GLOUCESTER. Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law;
    But we shall meet and break our minds at large.
  WINCHESTER. Gloucester, we'll meet to thy cost, be sure;
    Thy heart-blood I will have for this day's work.
  MAYOR. I'll call for clubs if you will not away.
    This Cardinal's more haughty than the devil.
  GLOUCESTER. Mayor, farewell; thou dost but what thou
    mayst.
  WINCHESTER. Abominable Gloucester, guard thy head,
    For I intend to have it ere long.
                    Exeunt, severally, GLOUCESTER and WINCHESTER
                                             with their servants
  MAYOR. See the coast clear'd, and then we will depart.
    Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear!
    I myself fight not once in forty year.                Exeunt

 The Duke of Gloucester, Lord Protector of the realm tries to enter the Tower, afraid that things may have gone wrong there since Henry V's death. The warders refuse to let him in, saying they have orders not to. Gloucester is understandably annoyed by not being let in when he's basically running England, but when the guy in charge comes , he says that he has clear orders not to let Gloucester in. This is sort of like locking Dumbledore out of Hogwarts. Gloucester isn't quite as full of professor-ly charm as Dumbledore, but still. Worse yet, Woodville says it's Winchester who's ordered them to keep Gloucester out. As we know from the very first scene of the play, Gloucester and Winchester don't get along. Gloucester disses Winchester badly--he says Henry V never liked Winchester anyway, and that Woodville had better open the gates. Winchester turns up about now and starts things out by insulting Gloucester. How so? He calls him "ambitious." Now that sounds nice--ambition means you accomplish great things and get your homework done early, right? Well, not in the Renaissance, especially if you're a nobleman but not a king. People suspected ambition and thought an ambitious character might want to take over. Gloucester disses Winchester right back, and the insults get thick and fast. Winchester accuses Gloucester of usurping the King's power and betraying the kingdom, and Gloucester accuses Winchester of trying to murder Henry V way back when, among other things. The insults keep going until a fight breaks out, and Gloucester's men chase Winchester's men off. The Mayor of London comes and asks why they can't all just get along. Gloucester and Winchester tell him, at length. Gloucester complains that Winchester has no regard for God or King , and that he's taken over the Tower. Winchester rattles off a list of accusations against Gloucester: He keeps pushing for war, he asks for too much money, he wants to overthrow religion completely, and he wants to betray Henry VI and be king himself. Gloucester is ticked off by this list, unsurprisingly, especially since lots of it seems to be false. He says he'll answer with blows, and the fighting starts again. The Mayor gets one of his officers to make a loud proclamation, which basically says, "Go home, and now you can't use weapons in my city." It even threatens the death penalty if they do use weapons here again. Dude's laying down the law, old fashioned sheriff style. Gloucester and Winchester agree to stop fighting now, but only on the condition that they can keep feuding in other ways. Gloucester is more moderate: He says he won't break the law, but that their business isn't over. Winchester is less moderate: He basically threatens to kill Gloucester at some later point. The Lord Mayor says if they don't stop he'll bring in clubs. He apparently doesn't like Winchester either, since he mutters to the audience, "This cardinal's more haughty than the devil" . Burn. Gloucester acknowledges the Mayor's authority, and Winchester makes another threat on Gloucester's life. They leave. The Mayor marvels that the nobles could be so quarrelsome.

