Main Characters

King Richard II — the king of England

Henry Bolingbroke — the Duke of Herford, occasionally referred to by his nickname, “Harry” King Richard's cousin and the son of Richard's uncle, John of Gaunt

John of Gaunt — the Duke of Lancaster; called either “Gaunt” or “Lancaster”

Edmund of Langley — the Duke of York; called “York” Richard's uncle, and a brother of John of Gaunt

Duke of Aumerle — the Earl of Rutland and son of Edmund of Langley; also called “Rutland”

Thomas Mowbray — the Duke of Norfolk; called “Norfolk”

Bushy, Bagot, and Greene — Richard's friends and supporters

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, nicknamed Hotspur; Lord Ross; and Lord Willoughby — noblemen who join Bolingbroke's rebel army to fight against King Richard

Duchess of York — the wife of Edmund of Langley and mother of Rutland

Duchess of Gloucester — sister-in-law of John of Gaunt and Edmund of Langley

Queen to King Richard

Lord Berkeley — the ruler of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire

Earl of Salisbury — a nobleman loyal to King Richard

Bishop of Carlisle — a clergyman loyal to Richard

Sir Stephen Scroop — a nobleman loyal to Richard

Abbot of Westminster — a clergyman loyal to Richard

Sir Piers Exton — a nobleman who assassinates King Richard

Introduction

King Richard II was probably composed around 1595, and certainly no later than 1597. It is set around the year 1398 and documents the fall of the last Plantagenet king, Richard II, and the rise of the first Lancastrian king, Henry IV.

Richard came to the throne as a young man. He chose his counselors unwisely and was detached from the people, wasting too much time spending money on his close friends and raising taxes to fund his pet wars in Ireland and elsewhere.

He “rented out” pieces of English land to wealthy noblemen, and seized the lands and money of the Duke of Lancaster on his death (the father of Henry Bolingbroke who will take the throne from Richard) in order to raise funds for a war, which upset both commoners and nobles alike. Bolingbroke, in particular, is incensed to learn that Richard has stolen his inheritance.

The Play

Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, the Duke of Norfolk, get ready to settle an argument through trial by combat. Bolingbroke feels that Norfolk is responsible for the murder of Richard's uncle, the Duke of Gloucester. At the last moment, King Richard decrees that both men are to be banished. Soon after, Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, dies. Richard seizes the estates in order to raise an army for a campaign in Ireland.

Bolingbroke returns to find that the Earl of Northumberland has joined with other disaffected nobles against Edmund of Langley, the Duke of York, Richard's regent while the king is in Ireland. When Richard returns, he discovers that Bolingbroke has not only reclaimed the lands stolen from him but also dispersed Richard's army and executed two of Richard's favorites.

Richard flees to Flint Castle for his own protection. Bolingbroke overtakes him and brings him back to London as a prisoner. Richard is made to confess crimes against the state and abdicate the crown to Bolingbroke, who becomes King Henry IV.

The Duke of York's son, Aumerle, loyal to Richard, conspires against King Henry. Aumerle is granted clemency, but Richard is imprisoned in Pomfreet Castle. Sir Piers of Exton murders Richard because he thinks King Henry wants him dead. Henry disavows the deed when he hears of it but promises a Crusade to atone for Richard's death.

Commentary

Richard's poetic and metaphysical musings on the nature of kingship and identity mark a new direction for Shakespeare and his histories. Some scholars feel that King Richard II reads like a dry run for the mature Hamlet.

King Richard II is stylized and in sharp contrast to the “Henry” plays that follow it (though they were written before King Richard II), and it contains virtually no prose. The play is replete with grand metaphors, such as the famous comparison of England to a garden, and of its reigning king to a lion or to the sun.

Famous Lines

“In rage deaf as the sea, hasty as fire” (Act I, Scene I).

“The tongues of dying men Enforce attention like deep harmony” (Act II, Scene I).

“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands, — This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England” (Act II, Scene I).

“The ripest fruit first falls” (Act II, Scene I).

“Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs” (Act III, Scene II).

“And nothing can we call our own but death And that small model of the barren earth Which serves as paste and cover to our bones. For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings” (Act III, Scene II).

“Comes at the last, and with a little pin Bores through his castle wall — and farewell king!” (Act III, Scene II).

“As in a theatre, the eyes of men, After a well-graced actor leaves the stage, Are idly bent on him that enters next, Thinking his prattle to be tedious” (Act V, Scene II).