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King Richard The Second Essay

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The Tragedy of King Richard the Second portrays a struggle over England within the royal family of Edward that is growing increasingly violent. Within this power struggle, King Richard murders the Duke of Gloucester, banishes Bolingbroke, and seizes Gaunt’s lands and fortune upon his death. Moreover, while once feared among the nations England has turned its focus from the outward enemies of state and instead is tearing itself apart internally. Consequently, John Gaunt’s deathbed speech depicts England as ill tended by its rulers, and Shakespeare’s imagery of the garden throughout the play allows a vivid relatable concept of political failure without fear of extreme repercussions. While King Richard had proven that he would not accept challenges to his ideology with the Duke of Gloucester’s murder and Bolingbroke’s exile, John Gaunt no longer feared retribution with his death imminent. Within the dialogue, John Gaunt reminisces about England likening it to a utopia that gods protected from the outside world, and goes as far as to say “This other Eden, demi-paradise” (Shakespeare, 2014, 2.1.42). However, that utopia had transitioned into a kingdom that lived in the moment without any forethought of their …show more content…

Moreover, upon Aumerle’s arrival, the Duchess asks him, “Who are the violets now [t]hat strew the lap of the new come spring? (Shakespeare, 2014, 5.2.46,47), actually asking about his societal interactions under the new king. However, Aumerle replies that he is not concerned, but the Duke of York, his father, cautions his actions so that he is not “…cropped before…[he]…come[s] to prime” (Shakespeare, 2014, 5.2.51). Thus again, these characters utilize depictions of nature when referencing political activities during a period of transition and unrest within England. So, why is such imagery used throughout the

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Henry III of England, also known as Henry of Winchester, played a crucial role in English history as King. Henry was born on October 1, 1207 in the Winchester Castle to King John and Isabella of Angoulême. Because of the death of his father on October 19, 1216 during the First Baron's War, Henry's entire life was changed at age nine. Being as he was the monarch’s eldest son, he was next in line to ascend the throne. In 1223, Pope Honorius III limited Henry's powers as king because of his youth.

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In Coppelia Kahn’s critical essay ““Myself Alone”: Richard III and the Dissolution of Masculine Identity,” discusses how masculinity is normally formed in Shakespearean histories, where a man’s identity is shaped by his relationship with his father. Kahn discusses how Richard is the only male character in the tetralogy whose masculinity is formed as a result of isolating and consciously separating himself from his father’s legacy. Kahn begins her essay by pointing out the patriarchal nature of Shakespeare’s history: men are at its’ center and the plays usually are tales on how these great men either come or lose their power. She states that in these Shakespearean histories, a man’s character resembles the relationship he has with his father, meaning there is a strong motif of filial piety in these plays. However, Richard III is different, in that it follows the breakdown of filial bonds, where Richard masculinity and power is established as a result of detaching himself from his father’s legacy and title.

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(Shakespeare 4.4. 22-23). The stark contrast between the innocence associated with lambs and the violent attributes of the wolf, their natural predator, symbolizes the true maliciousness of Richard himself, who typically hides his conniving nature behind the facade of charisma and a sharp tongue. By murdering the two young boys, who Shakespeare consistently characterizes as youthful and pure of heart, he has revealed the depth of his desperation for power. While the nobility’s ridicule of Richard’s disfigurement may contribute to their comparison of him to the sub-human, the equation of him to formidable, bloodthirsty, and predatory animals explicitly underlines his mutilated sense of

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Shakespeare’s text was set for a highly conservative and theocratic audience that believed in the idea of divine retribution for sins, an idea reflected in the death of Clarence who acknowledges his treason ‘thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds, Yet execute thy wrath in me alone’ ( ) . The character of Margaret is also central to this idea, as she curses Richard with ‘sin, death and hell have their marks set on him’ ( ), the use of biblical allusions acting as a reminder of going against God’s will to the Elizabethans. Shakespeare’s use of biblical allusion directly critics the flaws of renaissance humanist philosophy that placed faith in the divinity and ability of the individual to design their own destiny. As such in Shakespeare’s morally didactic text, divine order has to be restored, culminating in the ghosts that haunt Richard ‘God and good angels fight on Richmond’ side’ and ‘Good angels guard thy battle’ ( ). The ghosts constant reference to angels acting as a reminder that there is a hell and Richard himself saying ‘For hateful deeds committed by myself.

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However, Henry’s uneven temper once more gets the better of him when he learns that the Duke of York and the Earl of Suffolk have died. The order is given that “every soldier kill his prisoners!” (IV.6.37). This barbarous order, however, was instead viewed by Fluellen and Gower as heroic because the French killed some children, something that Henry has threatened to do. Moreover, Shakespeare is playing with the reader’s morals here by using unneeded violence to

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Shakespeare really wrote tragedies of great heights and earned standard category. His one of the best creation Richard II is a historical play rather being a tragedy. The history play is usually distinguished especially by its political purposes from other kinds of plays. Shakespeare 's use of his sources shows that he wanted to emphasize the political issues involved in the conflict between Richard and Bolingbroke, mainly the privileges of kingship and the right of rebellion. The play is consequently written not about the down fall of its hero but around the chronological stages by which Bolingbroke threatens, captures, and retains the crown.

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He finally knew what it took to be a good king and Edward II realized that even kings who have status, position and power are also mortals and human beings, just like ordinary people. He was well aware of the fact that it was too late for him and for his savation, but despite that, there was no cowardice in his mind, there was only clear mind in a weary body that peacfully welcomed inevitable death. Edward’s death scene is definitely the most famous scene of Chrsitopher Marlowe’s play. Thus, the real-life death of King Edward II made an impact on historical accounts and that impact is arguably evident in Marlowe’s play. The death scene of Edward II presented in this play inspire terror and pity.

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