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 | | King Richard II (The New Cambridge Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare, Andrew Gurr (Editor) ISBN-10: 9780521230100 ISBN-10: 0-521-23010-1 ISBN-13: 9780521230100 ISBN-13: 978-0-521-23010-0 Hardcover 1984-11-30 Cambridge University Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description The times have forced changes in the way we look at Richard II more than any other of Shakespeare's plays. What to his contemporaries was a balanced dramatisation of the central political and constitutional issue of the time, how to cope with an unjust ruler, has in the last century or so been translated into the poetic fall of a tragic hero. The introduction to this new edition of the play provides a full context for both the Shakespearean and the modern views of King Richard's fall. It relates the play's construction, imagery and staging to contemporary concerns and describes the changing views about Richard's deposition by means of a stage history. The accompanying illustrations suggest Elizabethan ideas of kingship and the staging of the play. The commentary is more detailed than for any previous edition of the play, and assimilates the most recent scholarship. The appendixes discuss the basis for Shakespeare's selection of material for his sources in this most carefully researched and composed of his history plays. | ||
Reviews | ||
Poet King Richard II is a lyrical treat for the reader, and one marvels at the creation of a character as complex as Richard. King Richard is a hopelessly deluded and inept monarch who believes supremely in the divine ordination of kings. He leans on this belief to the exclusion of all of the other king's responsibilities. He makes one poor decision after another, and never reflects on the choice or its consequences before he makes them. However, we still feel a tug at the heart when this monarch is murdered, and this is attributable only to his glorious poetry. Richard speaks in some of Shakespeare's finest verse, and he has the mind for metaphor. I would recommend reading Shakespeare's History plays in order of the king's reign, and one comes to appreciate the complexities and strength of Shakespeare's storytelling. There really are no exceptional characters in this play other than Richard. His antagonist Henry Bolingbroke is a cold hearted dud (and master politician) who plays to the common man and ruthlessly kills those who oppose him. All the while, telling us, and himself, that all his actions are justified and are the results of other's choices. Really he is no different from Richard, except he lacks the King's sense of poetry and theater. There are also some good speeches from secondary characters in this text, especially John of Gaunt. Shakespeare's genius is too large to be contained to only the main characters. Richard II is worthy of a read, if only for the extraordinary experience of feeling revulsion AND pity for the title character. | ||
Playing with Power The first of the bard's great Henry tetrology does not have the power or greatness of the its titular character to the extent that the latter plays have, but it still contains some of Shakespeare's greatest soliloquies. Richard II orates famously: 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. Richard the II is a tragedy about folly, about the farce of monarchical politics. It is clearly ahead of its time, though it falls short of the philosophical depth that Shakespeare would reach in such masterpieces as Hamlet and Macbeth. An indispensable part of the canon all the same. | ||
Each substance of grief has twenty shadows Shakespeare's age was the high renaissance in England. Most of the plays were performed at the Globe. The date of the writing and the first performance of RICHARD II is 1592. Richard has two roles. They are God's deputy and Adam's heir. A Machiavellian conflict between the king and his usurper is set forth in the play. Richard exiles Mowbray and Bolingbroke. John of Gaunt is sick and England is sick. England is subject to misrule by Richard, Gaunt asserts. Following the death of John of Gaunt, traitors, so-called, appear. Many of the nobles in the kingdom go over to the side of Bolingbroke, (Gaunt's son, also known as Henry IV). It is Act III and Richard lands in Wales. His rule still shows outward splendor. When he learns of Bolingbroke's advance, he loses his air of authority. Richard learns that his uncle, the Duke of York, has joined with Bolingbroke's forces. Bolingbroke seeks to have his banishment reversed and his lands restored. (At first he did not seek a complete regime shift.) Richard is imprisoned at Pomfret Castle. His queen is sent to France. Sir Pierce Exton slays Richard. | ||
Richard II Richard II was incompetent, wastefully extravagant, overtaxed his nobles and peasants, ignored his senior advisors, and lavished dukedoms on his favorites. His rival, Henry of Bolingbroke (later Henry IV), was popular with the common man and undeservingly suffered banishment and loss of all his property. And yet two centuries later Elizabethans viewed the overthrow of Richard II as fundamentally wrong and ultimately responsible for 100 years of crisis and civil war. Queen Elizabeth's government even censored Shakespeare's play. Shakespeare masterfully manipulates our feelings and attitude toward Richard II and Bolingbroke. We initially watch Richard II try to reconcile differences between two apparently loyal subjects each challenging the other's loyalty to the king. He seemingly reluctantly approves a trial by combat. But a month later, only minutes before combat begins, he banishes both form England. We begin to question Richard's motivation. Richard's subsequent behavior, especially his illegal seizure of Bolingbroke's land and title, persuades us that his overthrow is justified. But as King Richard's position declines, a more kingly, more contemplative ruler emerges. He faces overthrow and eventual death with dignity and courage. Meanwhile we see Bolingbroke, now Henry IV, beset with unease, uncertainty, and eventually guilt for his action. Shakespeare also leaves us in in a state of uncertainty. What is the role of a subject? What are the limits of passive obedience? How do we reconcile the overthrow of an incompetent ruler with the divine right of kings? Will Henry IV, his children, or England itself suffer retribution? Richard II has elements of a tragedy, but is fundamentally a historical play. I was late coming to Shakespeare's English histories and despite my familiarity with many of his works I found myself somewhat disoriented. I did not appreciate the complex relationships between the aristocratic families, nor what had happened before. Fortunately I was rescued by Peter Saccio, the author of "Shakespeare's English Kings". Saccio's delightful book explores how Shakespeare's imagination and actual history are intertwined. I hope you enjoy Richard II as much as I have. It is the gateway to Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2) and Henry V, all exceptional plays. | ||
So close to a masterpiece! My only complaint about this play is that Shakespeare should have had some dialogues where the characters discussed crucial history before the play opens. Gloucester (murdered or dead before the play but mentioned several times) had tried to usurp Richard's crown too many times. History itself is not sure if Gloucester died or was murdered. Bolingbroke for a while conspired with Gloucester and now sees another oppurtunity to usurp the crown.The virtuous John of Gaunt served Richard with honor and integrity and eventually moved parliament into arresting Gloucester for treason. This would of made John of Gaunt's rages all the more valid. Otherwise this play is outstanding! Richard shows himself to be capable of ruling at times, but gains our contempt when he seizes his the honorable John of Gaunt's wealth. John of Gaunt's final rage in 2.1 is a passage of immense rageful beauty. Also, Shakespeare moves us into strongly suspecting that Richard had Gloucester murdered. However, despite Richard's crime, Shakespeare masterfully reverses our feelings and moves us into having deep pity for Richard when he is deposed. The Bishop of Carlisle (Richard's true friend) provides some powerful passages of his own. I can not overestimate the grace in which Shakespeare increases our new won pity for Richard when Bolingbroke (Gaunt's rightful heir) regains his wealth and the death of Gloucester is left ambiguous. 5.1, when Richard sadly leaves his queen and can see that Henry IV and his followers will eventually divide is a scene of sorrowful beauty. 5.4 is chilling when Exton plots Richard's murder. 5.5 is chilling and captivating when Richard dies but manages to take two of the thugs down with him. The icing on the cake is that Bolingbroke (Henry IV) can only regret his actions and realize that he has gotten himself into a troublesome situation. But that will be covered in "1 Henry IV" and "2 Henry IV." We can easily argue that it is in "Richard II" where we see Shakespeare's mastery of the language at its finest. | ||