How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
EXETER
Ay, we may march in England or in France,
Not seeing what is likely to ensue.
This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feignèd ashes of forged love
And will at last break out into a flame.
As festered members rot but by degree
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed. (3.1.196-203)
Exeter's worries are all too accurate. He thinks that the lords of England (peers) aren't really getting along, even if they pretend to, and he thinks that tension will be disastrous, like smoldering embers turning into a forest fire or a festering wound rotting away someone's body. Sad to say, he has a much better grip on what's happening than King Henry.
Quote #8
EXETER
But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees
This jarring discord of nobility,
This shouldering of each other in the court,
This factious bandying of their favorites,
But that it doth presage some ill event.
'Tis much when scepters are in children's hands,
But more when envy breeds unkind division:
There comes the ruin; there begins confusion. (4.1.188-195)
Exeter's still worried, and his worries are still unfortunately dead on. He says that it's harder to keep a kingdom running when the King is a child, but that's not the real problem. The real problem is the envy among the lords and the strife it's causing. Could the Kingdom be working okay under Henry VI if it weren't for all these quarreling nobles?
Quote #9
LUCY
Thus, while the vulture of sedition
Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders,
Sleeping neglection doth betray to loss
The conquest of our scarce-cold conqueror,
That ever-living man of memory,
Henry the Fifth. Whiles they each other cross,
Lives, honors, lands, and all hurry to loss. (4.3.48-54)
Here, Sir William Lucy agrees with Exeter. If the nobles would just stop feuding (ahem York and Somerset), England could win against the French. How is the arguing of the nobles like a vulture, eating things away?