Figure 1.--

Shakespeare's play "Richard II" does not deal with the brave boy king who confronted the Peasant Rebellion. Rather it picks up his life much later as an adult. Richard was well known for his lavish court and spendthrift ways, traits depicted in "Richard II," Shakespeare's famous tragedy of the king's fall (1595). The play depicts Richard as a devout believer in the divine right of kings, and although weak politically, gifted with great powers of rhetoric that ballance sophisticated wit against heart-rending pathos. He was a patron of the arts. The most famous poet at his court was Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of "The Canterbury Tales." There is an arresting image of Richard II as a boy. It's called the Wilton Diptych. We do not yet have a page on the Shakespeare play. "Richard II" during the Elizabethan era was Shakespeare's most controversial play. This was because it delt with the deposition of a rightful king. Elizabeth identified very strongly with Richard II. When the play was published, the deposition scene was cut out of it.

Richard II

Richard was well known for his lavish court and spendthrift ways, traits depicted in "Richard II," Shakespeare's famous tragedy of the king's fall (1595). The play depicts Richard as a devout believer in the divine right of kings, and although weak politically, gifted with great powers of rhetoric that ballance sophisticated wit against heart-rending pathos. He was a patron of the arts. The most famous poet at his court was Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of "The Canterbury Tales." After Richard's fall, Chaucer mysteriously dissapears. There is an arresting image of Richard II as a boy. It's called the Wilton Diptych.

Childhood

Shakespeare's play "Richard II" does not deal with the brave boy king who confonted the Peasant Rebellion. Richard II who rode out on a horse as a mere child to put down the Peasants' Revolt. Rather Shakespeare picks up his life much later as an adult.

Plot

Shakespeare concerns the very end of Richard's troubled reign when he struggles with his cousin Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) for the crown. The climax of the play is the deposition of Richard by Bolingbroke, who has invaded England with an army of supporters while Richard is away in Ireland to deal with a rebellion there. When Richard returns from Ireland, he finds that Bolingbroke has already occupied most of the country and gathered so much popular support that most of the formerly loyal nobles defect to Bolingbroke's side. Richard gives up with virtually no military effort, but is portrayed somewhat as the martyr-king because he compares himself very self-consciously to Christ in his Passion. This impression is supported to some extent by the guilt that Bolingbroke (Henry IV) feels at the end of the play when he presides over the funeral procession of the king whom he has allowed to be murdered at Pomfret castle. The play is unusual among Shakespeare's history plays in having almost no battle scenes. The emphasis is on the political, emotional, and religious conflicts engendered by the deposition of a legitimate weak king by an abler but illegitimate successor on the throne. And the deposition becomes the symbolic "original sin" (like the Fall in Genesis) from which all the chaos and horror of successive generations, including the War of the Roses, flow. Richard II is not only a fallible man in the play. He represents also the sanctity of kingship which, in being violated, brings in its wake terrible consequences for the peace and stability of England.

Controversial Play

"Richard II" during the Elizabethan era was Shakespeare's most controversial play. This was because it delt with the deposition of a rightful king. Elizabeth identified very strongly with Richard II. When the play was published, the deposition scene was cut out of it. Notably, the Ear of Essex saw to it that the Globe Theater was doing Richard II hen he staged is abortive coup against Elizabeth in London.

Created: 7:28 PM 6/27/2004
Last updated: 7:28 PM 6/27/2004