John of Gaunt

Play

Richard II

Summary

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, is Richard II's dying uncle and the father of Bolingbroke. He delivers on his deathbed the most celebrated patriotic speech in Shakespeare — the "sceptered isle" lament for a England he believes Richard is destroying through vanity and misrule. He dies shortly after, and Richard's seizure of his estates gives Bolingbroke his pretext to invade.

Notable Quotations

"This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd 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... / This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." *(2.1)*

"Methinks I am a prophet new inspir'd, / And thus expiring do foretell of him: / His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last." *(2.1)*

"O, how that name befits my composition! / Old Gaunt indeed, and gaunt in being old: / Within me grief hath kept a tedious fast." *(2.1)*

Cross-references