RICHARD THE SECOND TEXT RESPONSE ESSAY
‘Richard sees kingship as something inborn, Bolingbroke sees it as politics.’ Discuss.
In the play Richard II, Shakespeare contends the need for alteration in the method of power from rule by divine right to rule by competency. Shakespeare authored the play during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was deemed to be a flawed queen at the end of her rule. Certainly the play is an allegory and Richards’s crimes are in fact her crimes. Shakespeare first presents Richard as an arrogant, wasteful king who in the first act declares that he was not born to sue but to command. Shakespeare depicts England to be a Majestic Paradise that is deserving of a better king than Richard; who does not properly protect …show more content…
However, Richard is hypocritical and fails to uphold the very laws he relies on when he denies Bolingbroke’s inheritance. In order to find his misguided war in Ireland, Richard “seizes into his hands, Bolingbroke’s plates, his goods, his money and his lands”. Bolingbroke possesses no real threat to Richards reign until he is banished, although it is not until word of his father Gaunt’s death, when Richard “wrongfully seizes” his inheritance that Bolingbroke defies his banishment in order to return and reclaim his birthright. However, unlike Richard, Bolingbroke continues to demonstrate the highest respect and understanding of the law, as he argues “As I was banished, I was banished Duke of Herford; but as I come, I come from Lancaster”. In denying Bolingbroke his legacy Richard displays a flagrant disregard for the law of primogeniture, the very law “that sustains his rights to the throne. “For how art thou a king but by fair sequence and succession?” Initially York feels it is important to uphold Richards’s kinship as in doing so he upholds the law of primogeniture. He challenges Bolingbroke and refers to him as a traitor to the commonwealth. He claims, “I am no traitors uncle.” However, Richard’s inability to care for his people, respect the laws of England and even to live up to the standards that he expects of others undermines his legitimacy and even leads York to predict that “his a rash fierce riots cannot last.” As the audience can gather from this piece of information, the play is developing to a point where doubt is directed towards Richards’s view of
‘Richard sees kingship as something inborn, Bolingbroke sees it as politics.’ Discuss.
In the play Richard II, Shakespeare contends the need for alteration in the method of power from rule by divine right to rule by competency. Shakespeare authored the play during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was deemed to be a flawed queen at the end of her rule. Certainly the play is an allegory and Richards’s crimes are in fact her crimes. Shakespeare first presents Richard as an arrogant, wasteful king who in the first act declares that he was not born to sue but to command. Shakespeare depicts England to be a Majestic Paradise that is deserving of a better king than Richard; who does not properly protect …show more content…
However, Richard is hypocritical and fails to uphold the very laws he relies on when he denies Bolingbroke’s inheritance. In order to find his misguided war in Ireland, Richard “seizes into his hands, Bolingbroke’s plates, his goods, his money and his lands”. Bolingbroke possesses no real threat to Richards reign until he is banished, although it is not until word of his father Gaunt’s death, when Richard “wrongfully seizes” his inheritance that Bolingbroke defies his banishment in order to return and reclaim his birthright. However, unlike Richard, Bolingbroke continues to demonstrate the highest respect and understanding of the law, as he argues “As I was banished, I was banished Duke of Herford; but as I come, I come from Lancaster”. In denying Bolingbroke his legacy Richard displays a flagrant disregard for the law of primogeniture, the very law “that sustains his rights to the throne. “For how art thou a king but by fair sequence and succession?” Initially York feels it is important to uphold Richards’s kinship as in doing so he upholds the law of primogeniture. He challenges Bolingbroke and refers to him as a traitor to the commonwealth. He claims, “I am no traitors uncle.” However, Richard’s inability to care for his people, respect the laws of England and even to live up to the standards that he expects of others undermines his legitimacy and even leads York to predict that “his a rash fierce riots cannot last.” As the audience can gather from this piece of information, the play is developing to a point where doubt is directed towards Richards’s view of