Geoffrey


Why did they not want geoffrey to be the king? He seemed intelligent and able enough didnt he?

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The trouble with being an individual in a multi-sibling household is that parents have favorites: the King's was John and Eleanor's was Richard. Not enough parents to go around. Geoffrey was the second son, so basically he was a spare to begin with. Him being the second son would mean that it was less likely that he would become king, if ever. We know that Geoffrey sided with Richard and Eleanor against his father in many campaigns. Henry wanted his favorite to be king, but knew that Richard, aside from being formidable, was the eldest. Geoffrey sided with Richard mostly, or rather against Henry, many times; perhaps if he did not things would have been different, but again as it was, John was Henry's favorite. He was smart and able, no question, but he also had a reputation for manipulation, being too smooth, and treacherous. Goodness knows he was far more capable of being king than John ever was. It's likely that they thought that they could not trust him. Their opinion of him is that, if he could, he would sell out both of his parents to get his hands on the crown and anything else he wanted. Granted, in the film, you can see why he would, considering he got nothing else from them either; or maybe that was just the way John Light played him, or the way character was written.

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The guy who played him in the original - John Castle - was fantastic.

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Intelligent and capable yes, but as far as the characterization of his parents in this film went, he had no chance at being kind if he was twenty feet tall and could command the weather. Eleanor and Henry used their respective favorites purely to spite one another--Eleanor with Richard and Henry with John. Geoffrey never fit into the equation. By his father's own admission he was never even in his parents thoughts let alone considered for a moment to be king. Plus, Eleanor and Henry were both manipulators. Each of them was trying to force their chosen child onto the throne by any means they could whether they had to fool them, bully them, or guilt them into going their way. Geoffrey would have been much harder to control given his abundance of brains and seeming lack of conscience.

Not to mention that Geoffrey was rather...sinister. Eleanor wanted Richard to be king because he was brave and battle-ready, and also the first born. Henry wanted John because he thought John was a 'good boy' and the only one worthy of the title. None of them had a benevolent thought about the middle child. In fact, his percieved uselessness seemed to be the only thing they could agree on, even when he played an impressive part in making things go his own way (which I can't help but notice Eleanor took all the credit for). In short, he was simply disreagarded as a spare prince.

All I can say, though, is that if I had a child who was that coniving, persuasive, and evil......I would make that brat king in a heartbeat. Nevermind the fact that my only other choices would be a sniveling mamma's boy and a stupid fat slob.

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None of you seem to remember that they weren't sons 1, 2, & 3! HenryIII was the eldest, but dead already, so they were 2, 3, & 4, in birth order!!!

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Actually, HenryIII was 2 in birth order, after William. So Richard, Geoffrey and John were 3,4 and 5 in birth order. Not counting their sisters.

In addition HenryII had another son Geoffrey, who lived into old age, from another woman. He was older than any of the other sons. He was archbishop of York and a fairly important guy.

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