Richard ii Summary Shakespeare: Act by Act Analysis

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Richard ii Summary Shakespeare

Richard ii Introduction:

Shakespeare’s Richard II is the first play in a tetralogy that explores the events that led to the Wars of the Roses, the dynastic conflict that dominated the second half of the 1400s. The other plays in the series are Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V. In Richard II, Shakespeare asked questions of profound importance to a monarchy such as England’s. What happens when the rightful ruler is not the best person for the job? What are the consequences of removing a ruler from the throne?

Shakespeare also painted a masterful portrait of a tragic character, a weak, self-centered king who loses his throne to a more practical and decisive man but who nevertheless evokes sympathy for the suffering he endures. As Richard’s emblems of kingship are stripped away, he is forced to recognize that he is no longer a “native king” but merely a flawed human being.

Richard ii Plot Summary

Richard ii Summary Act I:

The action begins at Windsor Castle, the royal residence. The kingdom of Richard II is in complete disarray. Henry Bolingbroke (the king’s cousin) accuses Thomas Mowbray (the duke of Norfolk) of stealing royal funds and of murdering the duke of Gloucester. Richard agrees that the two should settle their dispute with a trial by combat. He later changes his mind, however, and banishes them from the kingdom—Mowbray for life and Bolingbroke for six years.

Gloucester’s widow urges John of Gaunt (Bolingbroke’s father) to punish her husband’s murderer, but Gaunt reveals that the king ordered the killing. He reminds her that the monarch is “God’s substitute” and that only God can punish him. Gaunt declares that as a loyal Englishman he “may never lift / An angry arm against His [God’s] minister” (I.ii.40–41). Meanwhile, as Richard prepares to leave for Ireland to crush a rebellion, he reveals his alarm at Bolingbroke’s popularity with the people.

Richard ii Summary Act II:

In Act II, Gaunt delivers a much-quoted speech (II.i.40–68) from his deathbed, praising England as “this sceptred isle” and “this precious stone set in the silver sea.” Then after warning Richard that his participation in the murder of Gloucester, his excessive taxation, and his misrule will cause his downfall, Gaunt dies. Furious with Gaunt and in need of funds, Richard seizes the dead man’s property, which rightfully belongs to Bolingbroke. Several noblemen protest, alarmed at Richard’s blatant disregard for the law. The illegal confiscation prompts Bolingbroke to return from exile with an army to reclaim his inheritance.

Richard ii Summary Act III:

In Act III, Richard returns from Ireland to find that the kingdom’s leading nobles have allied themselves with Bolingbroke. After the king takes refuge in Flint Castle, Bolingbroke arrives and tells him that he will end his rebellion if Richard will return the duke’s inheritance and allow him to stay in England. Richard admits his cousin to the castle, knowing that he lacks the power to resist. A short time later the queen learns that Bolingbroke has taken the king, in effect a prisoner, to London.

Richard ii Summary Act IV:

Act IV is set in Westminster Hall, site of the English Parliament. Bolingbroke, the nobles, and several churchmen debate whether it is permissible to depose God’s chosen deputy. The bishop of Carlisle asks, “What subject can give sentence on his king?” (IV.i.121), and he warns that deposing Richard will lead to “disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny” (IV.i.142). After speaking movingly of his sorrows and misfortunes, Richard hands over his crown and scepter, the symbols of his kingship, to Bolingbroke, whom he calls King Harry.

Richard ii Summary Act V:

In Act V, Richard is imprisoned in Pomfret Castle. Bolingbroke, now King Henry IV, learns of a plot against him by Richard’s few remaining supporters. Sir Pierce of Exton, one of King Henry’s men, arrives and kills Richard in his cell, believing that Henry has hinted that he wants the deposed king dead.

The play ends with Henry secure in the knowledge that all those who had opposed him have been removed from the scene. When he learns of Richard’s death, however, Henry regrets that his rise to power is now tainted with Richard’s murder, saying, “Lords, I protest my soul is full of woe / That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow” (V.vi.45–46). He vows to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land “to wash this blood off from my guilty hand” (V.vi.50).

Source and History of Richard ii

In 1597 Richard II was entered in the Stationer’s Register, a record kept by English printers and publishers of works they intended to publish. Similarities between Richard II and Samuel Daniel’s poem “The Civil Wars between the two Houses of York and Lancaster,” however, suggest that Shakespeare may have written the play as early as 1595, the year that Daniel’s poem was published.

Shakespeare’s main source for Richard II was the 1587 edition of Holinshed’s Chronicles, a work completed by the English historian in 1577. The playwright also drew on A Mirror for Magistrates (1559), a collection of biographical poems about well-known leaders, including King Richard II.

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