Doctor Caius and his man Rugby are waiting at Windsor Park for Sir Hugh Evans. Doctor Caius is angry because Evans is late for their appointed duel. What Caius does not know is that the Host of the Garter purposely told him the wrong time and place to meet. The Host, along with Shallow, Slender, and Page, believes that the duel will be a highly entertaining one; and so he is doing all that he can in order to rile the emotions of the antagonists. The angrier they get, the more entertaining the duel will be.
Doctor Caius boasts to Rugby that Evans has saved his own life by not showing up because Caius avows that he will surely kill the Welshman. Among other comments, Caius declares the following: “By Gar, de herring is no so dead as I vill kill him” (10- 11). A herring was a popular fish for eating, and a common saying of the Renaissance was “as dead as a herring.” The doctor means that once he meets Evans, the Welshman will be in a worse condition than the proverbial dead herring.
The Host and others appear (at line 16). Shakespeare continues his fun with language by having the Host appear to compliment the doctor’s bravery, but in actuality he is insulting him. For example, he refers to Caius as having a “heart of elder” (25). The expression should be “a heart of oak.” An oak tree is tall, strong, sturdy, and steadfast – qualities that also describe a valiant fighter. An elder tree, on the other hand, is small and