Richard II

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 King of Trials: Historical Trials in Richard II William Shakespeare's Richard II acts as an amalgamation of three forms of trial: trial by ordeal, trial by combat, and trial by jury. Presenting the trial by ordeal in the spirit of its original Latin iudicium Dei, meaning "the truth of God", King Richard II offers himself an extension of God-ruling through divine right-therefore, creating a variant of an ordeal in his banishment of Henry Bolingbroke (Bartlett 5). Further, Richard II…

To become a good human, one has to be self-aware that he or she has to take action in order to accomplish a task. In Richard II by William Shakespeare, King Richard went through many of these tasks in order to become a good human. He starts off as a king who takes advantage of his position and uses verbal dramatization by making long speeches. He experiences multiple regrettable events and as the play goes on, he soon realizes his humanity. Throughout the play, Richard transitions from being…

The consequence of Bolingbroke’s rebellion against Richard and stealing of the throne seems to be, on the surface, a great venture that has awarded Bolingbroke. The reality though, is that since Bolingbroke has wrongfully taken the throne and has risen up against Richard, there are prophecies which lead us to believe that Bolingbroke’s rule will not be smooth-running. It is prophesied by Carlisle “And if you crown him [Bolingbroke], let me prophesy/ The blood of English shall manure the ground/…

“Richard II”: Through “Richard II”, Shakespeare describes the transition from a medieval conception, the aristocracy, in which the King is seen as the “prince”, in the latin meaning of it: primus inter pares, first among equals. It can be stated that the king is a sort of an elevated duke, who people need for military purposes, for the necessity to be protected (Lecture 10/01). Thus, he is bound to the law: with the sign of the Magna Charta the aristocrats have forced the King to recognize the…

On the surface King Richard II seems a straightforward depiction of an unfit King’s steady stream towards being deposed. Shakespeare’s lack of favoritism gives a documentary point of view, yet commotional drama of a daytime soap opera. Shakespeare’s elegant style leaves some doubt for the reader to be ‘all in’ with Bolingbroke taking over despite his heroic attributes and the follies of Richard. The play opens with King Richard’s continuing follies: covers up his Gloucester’s assassination,…

In London was where Shakespeare got his beginning. By the 1590’s Shakespeare was managing an acting company in London. It was called The Lord Chamberlain’s men. While managing this company it became very popular, also Shakespeare began publishing and selling his work. By 1597 he had fifteen plays published and by 1599 Shakespeare and a few business built their own theater on the bank of the Thames River. They later named it The Globe (“Prezi 3”). Some of Shakespeare’s earlier plays include…

with language and tampering with values of honour and valour conveys the power of language in shaping misleading representations of people and politics.  The end goal of the political figure is to establish control, regardless of the ambiguity surrounding their political motives due to projections of people and politics. Here, students will explore and analyse Shakespeare’s political representation of King Henry IV as having to establish himself as a credible and formidable leader after…

up blurring the line between themselves, their identity, and their characters “power” as a character has no true identity. A similar situation occurs in the play The Tragedy of Richard II by William Shakespeare. In the play, staging is a means of claiming power by using an audience to provide acknowledgment of said power. Power comes from others but is confused for identity which comes from oneself resulting in the downfall of King…

Geoffrey Chaucer was viewed as the father of English poetry and language even though his style was satirical and usually made up of nonsense. John Gower was hired by Richard II to make English into a more popular language by using poetry and was not afraid to take shots at Richard II in his work. Margery Kempe, though mentally unstable, had the honor of making a milestone in writing by composing the first ever autobiography ever written in English. Some people may say that the eras that came…