“A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!” Perhaps you have heard someone quote this but you’re not sure what it means or where it even came from. Fear not! In this post, we hope to shed some light into this well-known line from the bard himself, William Shakespeare.
The line is spoken by In Richard III, an exceedingly evil guy who, towards the end of the play that bears his name, becomes terribly weak and nearing the end of his life.
Where does “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse” first appear?
First, let’s take a look at where the line first appeared: in Richard III, Act V, Scene 4, Richard III is in the middle of a crucial battle. He has been doing all he can to get the best over his enemy Richmond—who, to his absolute dismay, has sent out decoys disguised like him into the battlefield. In the heat of the fighting, Richard is getting desperate, and to make matters worse, he doesn’t have a horse!
Wait, isn’t this just some metaphor? Nope! Although the line sounds like some poetic exclamation, it was actually literal when Richard said it in the play: during that time, a horse is tantamount to survival, as you can ride away from your enemies or at least fight on equal ground.
Without a horse, death was a sure thing. Compound that with the fact that Richard was already getting exhausted fighting all the fake Richmonds, and you can get a bit of an idea of how he was feeling.
In this case, we can sense his desperation as he, almost mindlessly, offers his kingdom for the chance of surviving the battle. He knew that without a horse, he had no chance against Richmond, so he throws out even the most important thing to him: the kingdom he has worked and schemed for throughout the years.
Isn’t it that, in the face of death, we suddenly realize what’s truly important? Who would’ve thought that Richard would willingly give up the kingdom he fought so hard for?
In fact, to show this desperation even more clearly, Shakespeare has him say the line not just once, but twice, as you can see below:
Richard
A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!
Catesby
Withdraw, my lord. I’ll help you to a horse.
Richard
Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die.
I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
Five have I slain today instead of him.
A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!
After this second utterance, the scene ends abruptly. Then, in Scene 5, Richard finally fights with Richmond himself, with no dialogue, and Richard ends up dead. The play concludes with Richmond becoming the first Tudor king as Henry VII.
Application of ‘A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse”
From this line, we see how death helps put things into perspective. When it’s a matter of life and death, any sane person will likely be willing to give everything. This is the reason why people would do almost anything to save a dying relative, whether it’s from cancer or a surgery that requires big bucks, or to save one’s own life.
When death is knocking at the door, even our “kingdoms,” or everything we worked our whole lives for, doesn’t hold water. We would gladly exchange all that just for another chance at life.
In the Bible, Jesus shares a parable that comes with a similar meaning: there was a certain man who, when he found treasure buried in a field, sold everything he had in order to get that field.
We can see that when something becomes our sole ambition, we are willing to give everything else for that. It doesn’t have to be only about life and death, but it can also apply to things that we realize are the most important to us.
As for Richard III, wasn’t it a fitting end for someone who spent his life conniving for a kingdom that he realizes at the end that his life was worth more than all he worked for—but even that was forfeit? Sad, wouldn’t you say?
My Kingdom for a Horse in Daily Use
Now that you know the original context of this line, you can also use it in daily conversation. Of course, it may be a bit of hyperbole when you use it, since not everything you encounter warrants giving your “kingdom” or the most important thing to you.
Still, you can use it to show when something is extremely important to you that you’re willing to give everything else for it. Or, you can also use it ironically when someone close to you desperately pushes to get something relatively unimportant, such as a cup of coffee or a new pair of shoes!
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- 88 Words that Shakespeare Invented (Well, Kind Of)
- To Thine Own Self Be True
- The Isocolon: How Parallels Improve Your Writing
- 22 Iconic Quotes from Famous Books
Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.
