Richard II Resigning the Crown to Bolingbroke

Richard II

William Shakespearec. 1595
Influence22nd pct
Popularity24th pct
Shakespeare

Read this if you…

  • want Shakespeare's most underrated play, the poetry is so good
  • want Shakespeare's most poetic character in any of his histories (Richard II, arguably a precursor to Hamlet)

Skip this if you…

  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated

The Groblé Take

Hot take, I think this was better than Richard the 3rd. The language was excellent. King Richard and Henry were both great characters. I’m impressed by this Shakespeare guy

Connections

The lineage through Richard II

Built Onwhat came beforeRichard IIThe GospelsGenesis

  • The Gospels by Matthew. Richard II built on it. - Richard doesn't just lose his throne — he casts himself as Christ betrayed, calling his enemies "Pilates" who deliver him to his "sour cross" - The Passion of Matthew 27 supplies the whole register: "So Judas did to Christ," the mockery, the handing-over - Knowing the Gospel account behind it makes the deposition scene land as deliberate sacrilege, not just self-pity
  • Genesis by Moses. Richard II built on it. - The garden of England in *Richard II* is Eden — and Richard's reign is the Fall that wrecks it - The gardener becomes 'old Adam's likeness'; the queen asks 'what serpent hath suggested thee / To make a second fall of cursed man?' — Shakespeare is reading Richard's deposition straight through Genesis 3 - Knowing the Eden story first lets you hear why Gaunt's 'demi-paradise' lament cuts so deep
See the full map
Gallery

Depicted in Art

Richard II kneels in profile on the left panel, presented by Saints John the Baptist, Edward the Confessor, and Edmund to the Virgin and Child surrounded by liveried angels on the right panel.

1397

The Duke of York stands reading the letter exposing his son Aumerle's plot, while Aumerle shields his eyes and the Duchess kneels in prayer pleading for mercy.

William Hamilton, 1795

Richard hands the crown across to Bolingbroke in the hall at Westminster, gesturing as he speaks the 'two buckets' deposition speech surrounded by lords.

John Gilbert

Richard II seated frontally on his throne in coronation robes, holding orb and scepter, staring straight out at the viewer.

1395

Richard sits alone in his cell at Pomfret Castle, head in hand, working through his great prison soliloquy as the world he ruled recedes (Act V, Scene 5).

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$9.99$9.31

Folger Shakespeare Library

2004

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise Google, without breaking the scene to do it.

Buy on Bookshop

Please support us by purchasing through these links, at no extra cost to you!

Notable Quotes

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred 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... This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

John of Gaunt, Act II, Scene 1
All 14 quotes, with sources →
Adaptations

Screen & Stage

Posters via The Movie Database (TMDB)

AcclaimPraised by 3 notable voices
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Romantic poet & critic, 1772–1834: He read Richard II as a history of the human mind, ranking the self-watching deposed king beside Hamlet.
  • Sam West, actor, 1966–: He played Richard for the RSC (2000) and BBC Radio 3, and called him the most purely verbal of Shakespeare's kings.
  • Harold Bloom, literary critic, 1930–2019: "It is a radically experimental play, questing for the limits of a metaphysical lyricism."

More by William Shakespeare

  1. 11A Midsummer Night’s Dream~1595William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·118 pagesInfluence24Popularity81ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  2. 13Hamlet~1600William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·218 pagesInfluence98Popularity96ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  3. 20Othello~1603William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·189 pagesInfluence88Popularity76ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  4. 23King Lear~1605William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·187 pagesInfluence95Popularity72ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  5. 26Macbeth~1606William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·122 pagesInfluence94Popularity87ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  6. 42Richard II~1595William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·160 pagesInfluence22Popularity24ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  7. 43Twelfth Night~1601William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·142 pagesInfluence20Popularity60ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  8. 52Romeo and Juliet~1595William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·175 pagesInfluence88Popularity99ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  9. 54The Tempest~1611William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·119 pagesInfluence87Popularity62ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  10. 59Love's Labour's Lost~1594William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·153 pagesInfluence8Popularity18ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  11. 69All's Well That Ends Well~1604William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·164 pagesInfluence15Popularity18ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  12. 72Much Ado About Nothing~1598William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·151 pagesInfluence18Popularity60ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  13. 77Julius Caesar~1599William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·141 pagesInfluence21Popularity61ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  14. 78King Henry IV, Part 1~1596William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·176 pagesInfluence22Popularity24ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  15. 80The Merchant of Venice~1596William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·152 pagesInfluence20Popularity60ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  16. 81Measure for Measure~1604William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·156 pagesInfluence18Popularity18ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  17. 94As You Like It~1599William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·155 pagesInfluence19Popularity58ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  18. 112Antony and Cleopatra~1606William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·178 pagesInfluence20Popularity32ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  19. 120Richard III~1593William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·209 pagesInfluence22Popularity58ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  20. 129Henry V~1599William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·187 pagesInfluence23Popularity50ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  21. 137The Winter's Tale~1610William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·178 pagesInfluence16Popularity16ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  22. 138The Taming of the Shrew~1591William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·150 pagesInfluence16Popularity59ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  23. 142Troilus and Cressida~1602William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·186 pagesInfluence18Popularity17ShakespeareSatireEnglish
  24. 150The Comedy of Errors~1594William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·105 pagesInfluence16Popularity20ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  25. 152Coriolanus~1608William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·197 pagesInfluence17Popularity32ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  26. 156King John~1596William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·148 pagesInfluence14Popularity22ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  27. 163Timon of Athens~1606William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·130 pagesInfluence10Popularity14ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  28. 173The Two Gentlemen of Verona~1590William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·122 pagesInfluence8Popularity19ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  29. 174Henry IV, Part Two~1597William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·183 pagesInfluence14Popularity22ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  30. 176Titus Andronicus~1592William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·148 pagesInfluence12Popularity14ShakespeareTragedyEnglish
  31. 178The Merry Wives of Windsor~1597William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·156 pagesInfluence12Popularity20ShakespeareComedyEnglish
  32. 179Cymbeline~1610William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·197 pagesInfluence11Popularity16ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  33. 180Pericles~1607William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·132 pagesInfluence10Popularity16ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  34. 181The Two Noble Kinsmen~1613William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·181 pagesInfluence9Popularity15ShakespeareRomanceEnglish
  35. 188Henry VI, Part 1~1592William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·154 pagesInfluence14Popularity22ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  36. 189King Henry VI, Part 2~1591William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·182 pagesInfluence13Popularity21ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  37. 190King Henry VI, Part 3~1591William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·174 pagesInfluence12Popularity20ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  38. 199Henry VIII~1613William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·176 pagesInfluence10Popularity23ShakespeareHistory PlayEnglish
  39. Shakespeare's Sonnets1609William ShakespeareGrueling·Quick·121 pagesInfluence—Popularity—PoetsLyricEnglish