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nf7mate 02-May-08, 12:01	Richard II by William Shakespeare I'm going to read Richard II by William Shakespeare this month. As I did with the Iliad, I'll be leaving my thoughts and comments chronologically, as I read through the work, but please don't feel limited by that. Any comments or discussion on all or any part of Richard II are welcome on this thread any time.
nf7mate 02-May-08, 12:21	... "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves." -Romans 13:1-2 The concept of Kings being ordained by God is certainly a Biblical concept. Richard and his allies believe that the King derives his authority to rule from God, and rebellion against the King is tantamount to rebellion against God. The question of whether or not it is sinful to rebel against the King is one of the central issues of the play.
nf7mate 07-May-08, 12:13	Act One Shakespeare uses two different stanzas of poetry in Act I to elevate the significance of language. Both stanzas show that language wields awesome power. First, Mowbray grieves his banishment by lamenting over his loss of use for his native tongue: The language I have learned these forty years, My native English, now I must forego: And now my tongue's use is to me no more Than an unstringed viol or a harp. Next, after Richard reduces Bolingbroke's banishment from ten years to four, Bolingbroke acknowledges the power of the words of a king: How long a time lies in one little word! Four lagging winters and four wanton springs End in a word: such is the breath of kings. It's not surprising that Shakespeare would present language as such a powerful force, considering his mastery of the use of the English language.
nf7mate 07-May-08, 12:21	Act One A noteworthy conversation takes place between Bolingbroke and his father, John of Gaunt. Bolingbroke is dejected about his six year banishment when Gaunt, in an attempt to help ease his son's suffering, advises his son to think of his banishment as a good thing: All places that the eye of heaven visits Are to a wise man ports and happy havens. Teach thy necessity to reason thus; There is no virtue like necessity. Gaunt's advice is reasonable if one accepts the premise that the judgement of the king is infallible and not to be questioned; after all, if one cannot change his surroundings, he may as well make the best of it. Bolingbroke rejects his father's advice. He rejects the notion that he should try to have a positive attitude about his banishment, and in so doing rejects the notion of the infallibility of the king. Bolingbroke agrees to obey the king but only out of respect for his power, not because he believes the king to be divinely appointed nor his judgement unquestionable. Here is Bolingbroke's rejection of 'positive thinking': O! who can hold a fire in his hand By thinking on the frosty Caucasus? Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite By bare imagination of a feast? Or wallow naked in December snow By thinking on fantastic summer's heat? O, no! the apprehension of the good Gives but the greater feeling to the worse.
nf7mate 16-May-08, 09:58	Act Two Gaunt gives probably the most well known speech in the play, praising England and lamenting the events that have tarnish and spoil the land of his birth. Every time I read of his praise of England I am taken by its' beauty. If this speech is so powerful and touching to an American reader such as myself, how much more will an English reader enjoy it? 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, 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, This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, Fear'd by their breed and famous by their birth, Renowned for their deeds as far from home, For Christian service and true chivalry, As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry, Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's Son, This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land, Dear for her reputation through the world, Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it, Like to a tenement or pelting farm: England, bound in with the triumphant sea Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame, With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds: That England, that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself. Ah, would the scandal vanish with my life, How happy then were my ensuing death!
nf7mate 16-May-08, 09:59	Act Two With his death eminent, Gaunt speaks without hindrance to the king, upbraiding him boldly and prophesying his doom. Gaunt's statements are powerful and weighty. Here is one of my favorite lines: And thou, too careless patient as thou art, Commit'st thy anointed body to the cure Of those physicians that first wounded thee: A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown, Whose compass is no bigger than thy head;
rilke 17-May-08, 07:15	Richard is doomed Gaunt knows that with his death, Richard's fall will take place.
nf7mate 20-May-08, 11:57	rilke Right, and the conversation between Gaunt and York before Richard enters illustrates that point. Gaunt tells York that he will warn the king, but York replies the king will not listen. Gaunt then says that the king may listen because he is dying, and the counsel of dying men is seldom ignored, but York maintains the king will not be moved by his counsel. Gaunt then says if the king will not listen, then he will prophesy the king's doom, which is ultimately what happens.
nf7mate 20-May-08, 11:57	Act Three In Act III scene II, Richard's transformation from headstrong and arrogant to humble and meek takes place. Once he realizes Bolingbroke's strength and his own position of weakness, Richard loses all confidence and all of his speech becomes grievous. Note the difference: Before he is given news of the defeat of the Welsh army and York's defection to Bolingbroke: 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: For every man that Bolingbroke hath pressed To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown, God for his Richard hath in heavenly pay A glorious angel: then, if angels fight, Weak men must fall, for heaven still guards the right. And after he is given the bad news: 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.
nf7mate 20-May-08, 11:58	Act Three I found it disturbing that Richard so quickly accepts his ill fate. If he really believed that he was the anointed ruler of God and was under the protection of angels, would not he be willing to fight to the death? Or at least put up a struggle? Or at least refuse to cooperate? Instead, he gives himself over to Bolingbroke without argument, as a sheep walking into the arms of a wolf. What must the king do now? Must he submit? The king shall do it: must he be deposed? The king shall be contented: must he lose The name of king? o' God's name, let it go: I'll give my jewels for a set of beads, My gorgeous palace for a hermitage, My gay apparel for an almsman's gown, My figured goblets for a dish of wood, My sceptre for a palmer's walking staff, My subjects for a pair of carved saints And my large kingdom for a little grave, A little little grave, an obscure grave.
nf7mate 16-Jun-08, 07:12	Act Four My favorite line of the play is Richard's acknowledgment that his internal grief if larger than he is able outwardly display. This powerful and poignant line comes after he angrily breaks a mirror. My grief lies all within; and these external manners of laments are merely shadows of the unseen grief that swells with silence in the tortured soul. All I can say is....wow.

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