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Waverley · Chapter
Epigraph explained
The epigraph quotes Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II, posing a question of political allegiance that foreshadows the novel's central conflict between loyalty to the Hanoverian king and the Jacobite cause.
What happens
The epigraph quotes Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II, posing a question of political allegiance that foreshadows the novel's central conflict between loyalty to the Hanoverian king and the Jacobite cause.
Themes in this chapter
Loyalty and Allegiance
The epigraph's demand to choose a king directly introduces the theme of political allegiance that will drive the plot.
Key passages
“Under which King, Bezonian? Speak, or die!”
Declare your loyalty to one king or face death.
This line from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II sets the stage for the novel's exploration of divided loyalties.