"Long live the king!"
Discussion
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 1-5
[A lookout post at the Royal Danish Castle at Elsinore. It's a cold night and Francisco is on duty. Another soldier, Bernardo, approaches. He stops as if he's heard a sound coming from the audience, then cries out]
Bernardo
Francisco
Bernardo
Francisco
Bernardo
"Long live the king" is the password which identifies Bernardo as the relief who has come to stand the next watch. Shakespeare’s choice of this phrase as the soldiers’ password subtly foreshadows one of the play’s themes, the transfer of power after the death of a king.
