Michael Warden
How does Shakespeare portray the character of Richard?
King Richard II Coursework
Shakespeare wrote ‘King Richard II’ in the 16th/17th Century, about 200 years after Richard was on the throne. His initial intent was to point out key factors within the Elizabethan monarchy. Queen Elizabeth was compared to King Richard because of her lack of an heir, her inclination towards heavy taxes and the indulgence of her favourites. Elizabethan critics viewed the play as being politically dangerous towards Queen Elizabeth’s monarchy.
Richard is presented , by Shakespeare, as being a man who pays more attention to his appearance rather than the duties and responsibilities of a king. Shakespeare also shows two key sides to Richard’s persona: Richard’s more weak and sympathetic side (seen towards the end of the play after his deposition as king) and also his rather cruel-hearted, more selfish side (his taking of Gaunt’s possessions after his death, the banishment of Bolingbroke and Mowbray etc…)
There is major contrast between Richard and Bolingbroke. Shakespeare shows the power shift between the king and the soon-to-be king. Bolingbroke starts with pretty much nothing and works his way up to the throne, whereas Richard is on the throne from the age of ten and ultimately goes from having everything he could desire, to having nothing.
Shakespeare portrays Richard in a rather negative light, in the middle section of the play, as he shows Richards refusal to accept the advice from many of his loyal men which Richard sees as “bitter medicine” and instead favours his flatterers. He loses many loyal men in doing so and shows favour to his flatterers who ultimately abandon him in his time of need. This portrayal, by Shakespeare, shows Richard as being quite shallow as he is only listening to those who will help to ‘boost his ego’ and turns away those who are trying to offer wisdom and help with Richard’s ruling of England.
Shakespeare shows contrast between two key characters: King Richard and Henry Bolingbroke. We see that through the course of the play, that it is due to Richard and the path that he chose, whilst on the throne, that lead to his downfall and the rise of Bolingbroke. Richard’s poor ruling as a King lead to many of his people losing favour with him and, when Richard goes away to Ireland, these downtrodden ‘subjects’ are quick to take favour with Bolingbroke when he returns to England to fight for Richard’s crown.
There are small, but key, issues which arise through Shakespeare’s writing. One of which is the argument over the divine right to rule and the legal right to rule. Richard sees himself as ‘God on Earth’ and feels that he should be allowed to rule for this reason. In this sense, Richard can be seen as a modern day martyr, he rules over the country in the name of God and dies in Christ’s honour. Controversially, the people of Elizabethan England would have argued that there should be a legal right and that the currents King or Queen’s first born child should become the next heir to the throne.
One major factor in the deposition of Richard, is his banishing of Bolingbroke. Whilst Bolingbroke is away, we see Shakespeare portray a more sinister and evil side to Richards character. This evil and sinister side is shown when Gaunt dies and Richard takes his possession, the possessions which rightly belong to the banished Bolingbroke. This in turn leads to Bolingbroke’s rebellion against his banishment and his swift rise to power, and ultimately leads to him taking the throne from Richard.
