“His deputy anointed in His sight, / Hath caused his death, the which if wrongfully, / Let heaven revenge, for I may never lift / An angry arm against his minister.” (1.2.38-41). This is the first concrete example of King Richard’s loss of power. John of Gaunt says to the Duchess of Gloucester that he refuses to exact revenge against Richard, even though Richard is probably behind the murder of his brother and her husband Gloucester, because Gaunt still believes that Richard was appointed to the kingship by God; in taking action against Richard, Gaunt would be committing treason against both the monarchy and God. Having been told that he was chosen by God to become king since he was a young boy, Richard has not been the best at keeping himself
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Surrounding himself with flatterers, Richard lets them fill his head with words of perfection as if he is doing nothing wrong, all while he is losing popular support: “A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown, / Whose compass is no bigger than thy head.” (2.1.100-101). Richard allows these aforementioned flatterers to have influence over his rule and he appoints his favorites into positions of power. He thinks his rule is supreme and secure, when in reality his supreme authority is all in his head as he is ignorant of the populous turning against him. His most recent land seizing exploit is the last straw, angering the nobles and prompting Gaunt to brand him “Landlord of England are thou now, not king.” (2.1.113) Richard had strayed far enough away from the way his father had ruled before him, and now, even his only security of the belief in the divine right of kings would not be enough to keep his reign …show more content…
Unfortunately, Richard made several mistakes that led to his people turning against him, only to show too little too late. His contemporaries viewed him as a boy, too immature and unable to make decisions separate from his emotions: “The King is come. Deal mildly with his youth, / For young hot colts, being raged, do rage the more.” (2.1.69-70) But we see the journey he goes through, transforming from an immature, unfit to rule boy, into someone who can understand and regret his mistakes. But it is not enough, and Richard will be left to be killed by Exton and have his death on Henry’s conscience, thus restarting the cycle of a king with the blood of another on his hands. In the end, Richard says it best, “Thus play in I one person many people, / And none contented. Sometimes am I king; / Then treasons make me wish myself a beggar, / And so I am.”
Surrounding himself with flatterers, Richard lets them fill his head with words of perfection as if he is doing nothing wrong, all while he is losing popular support: “A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown, / Whose compass is no bigger than thy head.” (2.1.100-101). Richard allows these aforementioned flatterers to have influence over his rule and he appoints his favorites into positions of power. He thinks his rule is supreme and secure, when in reality his supreme authority is all in his head as he is ignorant of the populous turning against him. His most recent land seizing exploit is the last straw, angering the nobles and prompting Gaunt to brand him “Landlord of England are thou now, not king.” (2.1.113) Richard had strayed far enough away from the way his father had ruled before him, and now, even his only security of the belief in the divine right of kings would not be enough to keep his reign …show more content…
Unfortunately, Richard made several mistakes that led to his people turning against him, only to show too little too late. His contemporaries viewed him as a boy, too immature and unable to make decisions separate from his emotions: “The King is come. Deal mildly with his youth, / For young hot colts, being raged, do rage the more.” (2.1.69-70) But we see the journey he goes through, transforming from an immature, unfit to rule boy, into someone who can understand and regret his mistakes. But it is not enough, and Richard will be left to be killed by Exton and have his death on Henry’s conscience, thus restarting the cycle of a king with the blood of another on his hands. In the end, Richard says it best, “Thus play in I one person many people, / And none contented. Sometimes am I king; / Then treasons make me wish myself a beggar, / And so I am.”