Abdication

In act four, scene one of Shakespeare’s Richard II, Richard’s lengthy monologues as Henry Bolingbroke attempts to get him to revoke the thrown serve as a metaphor for the entire play. Lines 194 to 214, specifically, after Bolingbroke asks King Richard if he is “contented to resign the crown?” capture the complicated the relationship between the two men and the crown (4.1.193). Richard’s willingness to step down from the thrown is debatable through his reaction to Bolingbroke’s question. Bolingbroke’s claim to the thrown through explanations of Richard’s less than kingly acts is weak in relation to his rise to power. Bolingbroke’s claim lies on Richard’s incompetence, yet Bolingbroke is unable to proclaim himself king unless Richard steps down. The power dissonance is evident in the reactions between the two men during the transfer of the kingdom from one ruler to the next. In line 194, Richard initially responds to Bolingbroke’s question if he is “contented to resign the crown” with “Ay, no; no, ay”: a confusing response with no clear yes or no (4.1.193-195). The “ay” can be interpreted as either a ‘yes’ or the homonym ‘I’. In the former case, if the “ay” is interpreted as a ‘yes’, the ending “ay” would have Richard agreeing to resign the crown to Bolingbroke. However, if the “ay” is interpreted as an ‘I’, then Richard would be denying to resign the crown. The resulting effect is an unclear response to Bolingbroke’s question due to the many interpretations in Richard’s…

What was the key reason for the tsar's abdication in 1917? Russia is in a disaster. At first, the crowded was delighted to have Nicolas ll appointed Tsar in 1894. However, one man could not control Russia because of its size. Soon, the Tsar lost his power and the empire fell collapsed. The reasons are split by short, medium and long term factors. The mix of cultures in such a large country and the clash of different views and religions were things that had been a long term problem in Russia…

In the months leading up to his abdication, the British government highly advises King Edward against pursuing his relationship with Wallis Simpson. They believe his marriage to her “would not be acceptable to the government” and to appease the government and prevent them from having to resign, the King abdicates and announces it to the public (Price). His announcement comes as a general shock to the people and he does his best to profusely apologize for abruptly removing himself from the…

What They Believe,” Robert Coles discusses the problem of moral abdication. Robert Coles, a psychologist, uses his experience counseling students to analyze what leads to children misunderstanding morals. Children need morality to guide them and help them make moral decisions. However, children are influenced by the adults in their lives and often those adults only confuse them morally. Also, children who grow up without moral standards then influence their children to abdicate, leading to a…

The two documents that will be the focus of this study come from both the Duke of Windsor and his wife, the Duchess of Windsor. The two documents are memoirs detailing the events that took place during the Abdication Crisis of 1936. However, while the events of the crisis had taken place during 1936, the memoirs themselves were not written until several years after the fact. Nevertheless, both memoirs provide great insight into the incident, and are able to tell a more intimate look into events…

Assyria was the area in the Near East which, reached from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) through Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and down through Egypt. The empire began modestly at the city of Ashur (known as Subartu to the Sumerians), located in Mesopotamia north-east of Babylon. The Xia Dynasty 2070 B.C.E. – 1600 B.C.E. is the first dynasty to be described as independent in both the official Records of the Grand Historian and unofficial Bamboo Annals, which record the names of seventeen kings over…

own nation, like they first came over to be. The Russian Revolution and American Revolution had many similarities and differences. The Russian Revolution began on March 8, 1917 when people gathered on the streets in what is now St. Petersburg, Russia, began to protest and go head to head with the police over bread because there was a scarcity of food. The people were living in poverty and did not have power, much of the reason being because of World War I and how their world was changed. They…

world primacy, casting them on the political fringes of American conservatism and progressivism. Consequently, politicians that support more shared international power are considered radicals even if their purpose is to preserve America’s power long term. A reason for this peculiar paradigm is simple, yet important. Even the remote appearance of abdication of American leadership abroad easily transforms to an anti-American narrative in today’s polarized society. Narratives and sound bites…

After his abdication Napoleon was allowed to retain the title of Emperor, but only if he stayed on the Island of Elba, near the coast of Tuscany. Stephen Coote believes putting Napoleon on an island so close to Europe and lands he once dominated must have “created deep contempt and longing for an opportunity” to escape to try to restore his Empire. This opportunity arose only nine months after he was imprisoned there. It was mostly a result of lack of supervision provided by the Great Powers he…

Ivan IV Vasilyevich, a.k.a Ivan The Terrible, was officially the grand prince of Moscow until January 16th 1547 when he was crowned “Tsar of all the Russia's”. Ivan was born to Vasili the 3rd and his second wife Elena Gimskaya. He then later married Anastasia Romanovna and ruled during the Romanov dynasty. When Ivan was three years old his father died leaving him to be made grand prince of Moscow. When he turned 8 years old his mother died leaving him and his younger brother Yuri alone, 8 years…