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Analysis of Richard II

The document analyzes William Shakespeare's play Richard II. It discusses the plot, themes of kingship and betrayal, and analyzes a soliloquy from the play where Richard questions what it means to be king after losing his power and kingdom. The soliloquy addresses Richard realizing he is just a human and not divinely appointed as he once believed.

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97 views

Analysis of Richard II

The document analyzes William Shakespeare's play Richard II. It discusses the plot, themes of kingship and betrayal, and analyzes a soliloquy from the play where Richard questions what it means to be king after losing his power and kingdom. The soliloquy addresses Richard realizing he is just a human and not divinely appointed as he once believed.

Uploaded by

ozkisaipek
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Soyadı 1

İpek Özkısa

Clive Campbell

ELL 103

20 January 2024

Analysis of Richard II

“Down, down I come like glistering Phaethon.” Richard II is one of the history plays written by

William Shakespeare in the 16th century. Its first edition is kept in the British Library, Huth 46.

It is written entirely in verse, unusual for Shakespeare, and divided into four acts. It is the first

part of a tetralogy, or four-part series, which deals with the historical rise of the English royal

House of Lancaster. The plays that round out the series are Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2, and Henry V.

There are several themes in this play such as kingship, betrayal, and character flaws. Richard’s

difficulties reflect the reality of 14th century England, which saw a struggle between the nobles

and the monarchy. He appears, the play supports his argument that to be a king is inevitably to be

the hero in a tragic cycle.

Renaissance drama was a new age for drama and historical drama was one of the most common

genres at that time along with tragedy and comedy. Historical drama included themes such as the

problems of ruling and legitimacy. Most popular historical plays were Richard III, Henry V and

Edward II, and Richard II was also one of them.

Between 1592 and 1593, England experienced a major plague outbreak which caused

theatres to close. By the time they were reopen, Shakespeare had already begun to secure his

position in the theatre world. With the theatres back in business in May 1594, the Lord

Chamberlain reconstituted his theatre company as The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. It brought

together actors such as Richard Burbage, William Kemp and Shakespeare himself. They all
Soyadı 2

owned shares in the company and Shakespeare had a ten per cent stake, which secured him an

income far above any other playwright’s earnings. His play Richard II was famously performed

by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

Now we will look at the soliloquy of Richard II in Act 3: Scene 2 in order to analyze the themes

that are mentioned above.

“No matter where; of comfort no man speak:

Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;

Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes

Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth,

Let's choose executors and talk of wills:

And yet not so, for what can we bequeath

Save our deposed bodies to the ground?

Our lands, our lives and all are Bolingbroke's,

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;

How some have been deposed; some slain in war,

Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;

Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;


Soyadı 3

All murder'd: for within the hollow crown

That rounds the mortal temples of a king

Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,

Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,

Allowing him a breath, a little scene,

To monarchize, be fear'd and kill with looks,

Infusing him with self and vain conceit,

As if this flesh which walls about our life,

Were brass impregnable, and humour'd thus

Comes at the last and with a little pin

Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!

Cover your heads and mock not flesh and blood

With solemn reverence: throw away respect,

Tradition, form and ceremonious duty,

For you have but mistook me all this while:

I live with bread like you, feel want,

Taste grief, need friends: subjected thus,

How can you say to me, I am a king?”

King Richard’s soliloquy here addresses the main theme of this play. What is a king? He

is a man who lost everything in his power now and thus questions the meaning of being a king.

At the beginning of the play, he believed that he was secure and got divine power. This thought

represents the medieval way of thinking about the kingship, the king as a direct deputy of God.
Soyadı 4

But now, having lost his kingdom, Richard realizes that he is merely flesh and bone, a human.

He knows how the hollow crown gives an illusion to the king and people around him. He

discusses the old kings; how tragic all their lives got shaped because of the hollow crown.

Wearing that crown makes a king feel invincible and fearless, infusing him with false sense of

confidence and safety. The crown also leads people to deem the king as inhuman. It objectifies

the king, making him just a symbol in people’s eyes. But it takes a king too long to realize that

said senses are fake. And this leads to their tragic downfall, just like it did with Richard. He

changes his idea about being a sacrosanct king and refers to himself as just a human, also asking

his people to do so.

REFERENCES

The Shakespeare Book, Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2015

https://libraryguides.mdc.edu/medrenlit

https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/resource/document/richard-ii-first-

edition#:~:text=British%20Library%2C%20Huth%2046.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shakespeare-and-the-plague-

3vhbsz77m?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-

62tBhDSARIsAO7twbZ8LQaiw08BeFnWKMltfO7WmGjI7Ftt-

833O3OalZ9P4m37pfPaQq8aAn6JEALw_wcB

https://theshakespeareblog.com/2014/02/shakespeares-richard-ii-and-the-essex-rebellion/

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