Defining a Legacy

Abstract

‘As if it matters how a man falls down.’ The line comes from the movie The Lion in Winter, from the scene where the future King Richard the Lionheart is imprisoned with his brothers Geoffrey and John, fearing execution at the hands of their father Henry II. Richard is determined to be brave and meet his end without flinching or begging for mercy. It is Geoffrey who suggests that Richard is a fool for thinking that it matters how a man meets his end. He is rebuked by Richard, who says, ‘when the fall’s all that’s left, it matters a great deal’.