Off with his head—so much for Buckingham.

The line is typically understood as a brusque, theatrical expression of political ruthlessness: a powerful figure orders an execution (“Off with his head”) and then dismisses the victim with a curt epigram (“so much for Buckingham”), implying that even a great name or courtly favorite can be disposed of without ceremony. Read as Cibberian stage wit, it also satirizes the casual cruelty of court politics—reducing a life-and-death act to a punchline. Without a securely identified dramatic or prose context, however, it is difficult to say whether the target is meant to be the historical Duke of Buckingham (as emblem of overmighty favorites) or a character bearing the name in a specific play.