In this passage Bolingbroke uses another simile to show again his beliefs in the ‘Divine Rights of Kings:
“For Mowbray and I are like two men
That vow on a long a weary pilgrimage.”
This simile might be a little ironic, as Richard is about to throw down his ‘warder’ and banish them both and they will be forced to go on a real journey.
So, knowing about the belief about the ‘Divine Rights of Kings’ we can see why it is so important to Bolingbroke and Mowbray to carry out this battle. It is important to Mowbray because he has being accused of ‘treason’ which was thought to be equal to blasphemy, as going against the King is the same as going against God. Mowbray wants to prove his innocence not only to the King but also especially to God. It is important to Bolingbroke because he feels that he needs to prove his ‘God’s grace’, he believes that he is doing well to God by killing Mowbray who is a blasphemer. Though this is strange for Bolingbroke to truly believe that he is going to win the fight and that ‘heaven’ will ‘defend’ him as he knows that it wasn’t Mowbray who killed the Duke of Gloucester, and this being the main reason why the battle is taking place.
It is believed that God will choose who will die in battles that take place in the royal lists, the one who dies is the one who was wrong. This is why Richard says in this passage that they will be ‘lament’ but they will not ‘revenge thee dead’ because if Bolingbroke dies it would be because the traitor. Bolingbroke agrees with him when he says:
“O, let no noble eye profane a tear
For me, if I be gored with Mowbray’s spear!”
So I have explained about the relationship between Bolingbroke and Mowbray, the fact is that they both want each other dead and so I am able to say that the only relationship between these two men is that they are enemies. As for the relationship between Richard and the two isn’t a close relationship either. This is mainly because of what happened before the time of the play; Bolingbroke and Mowbray are the last two of the five ‘Lords Appellant’. So, this leaves Richard not too keen on Bolingbroke, even though they are cousins, he feels the same about Mowbray also. So Richard takes the opportunity to rid of them both in the second before the battle commences. It seems that Richard has changed his mind at the last minute or being very dramatic and has waited until the most tension has being built up before he stops the fight, having already planned to do so.
So, the relationships between the three men aren’t very warming at all. But, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t have close relationships with other people in the play. For example in this passage Bolingbroke shows his care for his father when he says good bye to him:
“Lo, as in English feasts, so I regreet
The daintiest last, to make the end most sweet.”
This is why Bolingbroke has such a grudge against Mowbray, because of Mowbray’s participation in conspiracy against John of Gaunt, Bolingbroke’s father. Bolingbroke has yet to forgive Mowbray for this. Perhaps this close relationship between Bolingbroke and John of Gaunt makes Richard envious. Richard has reason to be envious because his father was killed Richard was young and so gives him reason to be jealous of Bolingbroke adding to his spite against him. However, this is not the only thing that distances the relationship between Bolingbroke and Richard even more, we must not forget that Bolingbroke is very powerful and very popular with the common people. There appears to be sarcasm and spitefulness in the tone of the passage later on in the play when he says:
“How did he seem to dive into their hearts
With humble and familiar courtesy;”
Richard does have good relationships with his friends or his ‘favourites’ as they are described: Bushy, Bagot and Greene. He is also quite close to his other cousin Aumerle, showing that he doesn’t dislike all his kinsmen. It seems that his favourites have importance on Richard’s opinion of Bolingbroke. Even though Bolingbroke says a ‘loving farewell’ to his cousin, Aumerle in this passage, we it comes round to Aumerle’s time to say ‘farewell’ to Bolingbroke, he cant bring himself to do so. This shows that it isn’t only Richard, Bolingbroke and Mowbray who have bad relationships with their fellow nobles, but it is quite common throughout the play.