Richard II
Play
Summary
Richard II is the poetic, narcissistic, and politically inept king who is deposed by Henry Bolingbroke. Where Bolingbroke is pragmatic and ruthless, Richard is lyrical, self-absorbed, and incapable of effective action — yet in his suffering he rises to genuine tragic grandeur. His meditations on kingship, time, and identity are among the most exquisite verse in Shakespeare's histories.
Notable Quotations
"For God's sake let us sit upon the ground / And tell sad stories of the death of kings: / How some have been depos'd, some slain in war, / Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed, / Some poison'd by their wives, some sleeping kill'd; / All murder'd — for within the hollow crown / That rounds the mortal temples of a king / Keeps Death his court." *(3.2)*
"I have been studying how I may compare / This prison where I live unto the world: / And for because the world is populous / And here is not a creature but myself, / I cannot do it." *(5.5)*
"Not all the water in the rough rude sea / Can wash the balm off from an anointed king; / The breath of worldly men cannot depose / The deputy elected by the Lord." *(3.2)*
"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me." *(5.5)*
Cross-references
- Richard II — the play
- Bolingbroke — the man who deposes him
- John of Gaunt — his dying uncle whose rebuke he ignores
- York (Richard II) — his wavering uncle
- Mowbray — exiled in the opening scene
- Histories