Original artwork, not a still
To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn't it?
— Blackadder • 1983
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Blackadder measures Baldrick's difficulties against an entire era of learning and discovery. The insult is funny because the supposed test of Renaissance achievement is only a handful of beans. It gives the familiar feeling of being left behind a very specific character setting: Elizabethan sophistication confronting someone whose interests remain stubbornly practical.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for BlackadderShow the scene
At the start of ‘Head’, the second episode of Blackadder II (1986), Blackadder tries to teach Baldrick some elementary arithmetic with beans. The lesson produces inventive answers rather than reliable addition. Even when Baldrick finally gets close to counting them, Blackadder sees little evidence that the great intellectual changes of their age have reached his servant. His verdict brings the Renaissance down to the scale of one unsuccessful domestic lesson.
Sources (2)
- Head — episode subtitle transcriptBlackadder II — Head; quoted conversationReference checked
- Blackadder II — WikiquoteHeadReference checked
Context reviewed
