Oppression Of Richard's Status As A King

The first half of Richard II seems to demonstrate the beginning of a paradigm shift in royal power, where Richard’s mere presence as King can no longer hide his absence of effective leadership. While Richard has no problem carrying out the ceremonial duties of the king—formally settling disputes, speaking eloquently as a king “ought” to—he is nothing really more than a figurehead. In the first scene of The Hollow Crown, Richard’s status as King is made painfully obvious; he is draped in silky, gold, elegant attire, sitting atop an extravagant throne that clearly contrasts where his dull subjects are sitting. Bolingbroke and Mowbry approach and address their “sovereign” as though they are facing God on judgment day. Whereas Bolingbroke and Mowbry speak with passion and fervent hand gestures, Richard remains stoic and his face does not move in the slightest.

When he urges Bolingbroke and Mowbry to “forget, forgive; conclude and be agreed” (Act I, scene i, 156), his beautiful poetry is unable to convince them not to fight. Instead of digging his heals in and asserting his authority, he quickly resigns and sets a formal date for a fight, as per the wishes of Gaunt, Bolingbroke, and Mowbry. Similarly, after Richard makes the unpopular decision to wage war in Ireland, Willoughby and Northumberland don’t even give Richard credit for being a poor leader; instead they complain he was “basely led by flatters” (Act II, scene i, 242) who “inform, merely in hate, ‘gainst any of us all.” Provided, pinning Richard’s leadership issues on his advisors could just be a way to get around speaking out against God by proxy of the king, however, even then the king has no agency in the matter and is nothing more than a figurehead. Although Richard goes through the motions of a king, he seems to lack any real