What Was William Shakespeare Thinking?

Context: It's the only real way to discern real meaning. Words alone, without context are lacking in texture and are truly hollow. So when Shakespeare's oft quoted line "kill the lawyers" is bandied about, does it mean that he thought lawyers were evil and the bane of civilization and that they should be exterminated en masse?

The line comes from the play Henry VI. It is spoken in Part II, Act IV, Scene II, Line 73, by the character Dick the Butcher. Shakespeare's exact wording is "the first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Dick the Butcher is a follower of the rebel Jack Cade. Cade wanted to overthrow the Government and thought the best approach to that end was to disrupt law and order. His belief that the lawyers should be killed meant that they, the lawyers, were indeed the protectors of the law and that their demise would doom a law abiding society. So in Shakespeare's mind, the lawyers were indispensable to a free and lawful nation. They were heros and not villains. At our law firm we do not consider ourselves heros, but we do believe that our clients deserve justice. We know that they depend on our honest counsel and representation. It was once said, "an eminent lawyer cannot be a dishonest man." We at Davis & Davis believe that and we strive daily, as we have for the last 40 years, to provide our clients with careful and informed advice. Whether they have been injured in an automobile accident or on the job, or if they have a family law or estate issue, or even if they have been accused of a crime, we want to make sure that the law works for them. Because we believe, as Shakespeare did so many years ago, that in a free society law and order is indispensable. When our clients have a legal problem, we want to be there for them and find the solution.