"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" is a line from which play of William Shakespeare?

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." is a line from William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2. This quote is considered one of Shakespeare's most famous lines from 17th century literature. It has also been a controversial line because some people can't decide if it was meant to be serious or just a simple joke.

Shakespeare could be making a joke when the character "Dick The Butcher" suggests one of the ways the band of pretenders to the throne can improve the country is to "kill all the lawyers". Dick is a rough character, a killer as evil as his name implies. Just like other henchmen believe, this is his rough solution to the perceived societal problem.

There is some disagreement among literary critics with the interpretation that one of Shakespeare's sympathetic characters would make a joke suggesting that killing lawyers would make the world better. These critics are pleased to contend that the quote is a pure (unadulterated) 'lawyer joke'.