ABSTRACT
Mercy, he shows no fine feeling or remorse in his soliloquy in Pt. I, IV.2 when, after possessing Cassandra he wishes to escape from his bargain, and will do so by misusing his power ('and thus shall rule conceale my filthy deede'). He then orders Andrugio to be beheaded. His misrule extends far beyond his own acts, and before his own crimes are exposed the King reproves him for tolerating underlings like Phallax. When Cassandra complains against him he collapses at once; his repentance is of the conventional 'dying speech5 kind. Altogether he is a less interesting and complex person than the dramatic Juriste; he is conceived as an 'exemplum', a 'Mirror for Magistrates' (Pt. I I , IV.2).
