Richard II

Gaunt’s deathbed warnings and the seizure of his property in Act II raise the specter of The Impact of Corruption and Opportunism on Richard’s reign. Gaunt, who has an idealistic vision of England, understands that his nephew Richard is unfit for the office he holds. In Gaunt’s assessment, Richard does not understand the burden of responsibility he has taken on. He is too much in a rush and will not be able to sustain his momentum:

His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last,

For violent fires soon burn out themselves;

Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short;

He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes;

With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder (2.1.33-37).

Gaunt then launches into one of the most famous speeches in Shakespeare, a eulogy to England and the glories of its most recent six decades, now eclipsed by the actions of a young, irresponsible king. Gaunt’s sickness and imminent death represent symbolically the loss of a great era in English history, going back to his father, Edward III, and Edward’s son, Edward the Black Prince, Richard’s father. Gaunt presents England as a precious island fortress, isolated from and superior to other lands; he likens it to the garden of Eden, a “blessed plot” (2.1.50) and “teeming womb of royal kings” (2.1.51).

The garden imagery that Gaunt introduces here recurs frequently in the play, reflecting the theme of The Problem of Order and Legitimacy. Human life is described metaphorically in terms of flowers, plants, roots, and other vegetation imagery. Examples from Act II include Gaunt’s description of himself as “a too long withered flower” (2.1.134) and Richard’s comment when he hears of Gaunt’s death: “The ripest fruit falls, and so doth he” (2.1.153). Most importantly, the imagery of growth and decay is often invoked to describe the state of Richard’s England, with Richard’s detractors using imagery of an unruly garden to symbolize the king’s corruption and inefficiency. Bolingbroke refers to Bushy and Greene, two of the king’s men, as “The caterpillars of the commonwealth / Which I have sworn to weed and pluck away” (2.3.165-66, emphasis added). In calling Richard’s closest associates “caterpillars,” Bolingbroke likens them to parasites that are damaging the country and that need to be “weed[ed]” and “pluck[ed]” from power to restore the nation to order and health.

Act II also brings up the idea of the divine right of kings, a fundamental pillar of English medieval society, which was thought to be rooted in the natural order of things. However, Richard—who will later invoke this notion to try to save himself— shows only a selfish understanding of it and a willingness to destroy it when it suits him. The right of kings depends on inheritance and due succession from one generation to the next, a practice that applies equally to the nobility. When Richard seizes Gaunt’s property and denies Bolingbroke his inheritance, he fatally undermines his own legitimacy.

York points out the importance of legitimacy and inheritance in maintaining the social and political order in no uncertain terms, showing the utter folly of Richard’s actions:

Was not Gaunt just, and is not Harry true?

Did not the one deserve to have an heir?

Is not his heir a well-deserving son?

Take Hereford’s rights away, and take from time

His charters, and his customary rights;

Let not to-morrow then ensue to-day;

Be not thyself; for how art thou a king

But by fair sequence and succession? (2.1.192-99).

Richard, however, refuses to listen, and events now unfold swiftly. After Scene 2 shows Richard’s supporters conferring and reacting, Scene 3 shows Bolingbroke’s supporters, who are all of one opinion except for York. York wavers, since he has the ability to see both sides of the situation: Although he wishes to maintain the legitimate order of kingship, he also knows that Richard is increasingly unfit to rule. Scene 4 dramatizes Richard’s bad luck—the desertion of the pro-Richard Welshmen only a day before he returns from Ireland—and shows which way the political winds are blowing. Salisbury indicates that it is all over for Richard; the king is like a sun that sets “weeping in the lowly west” (2.4.21). The focus of the play will now be on The Crisis of Identity Richard will soon face as he is deposed.