Read Online Richard II by William Shakespeare - Free Book Online

than the title and trappings that attend it, it is a fundamental part of him: if he is not king, he is not himself. He knows that Bullingbrook will not let him remain king and, seeing Aumerle weeping, says they will “fret” themselves two graves with their tears. He agrees to come down, aware of the way in which this literaldescent reflects his metaphorical one. Bullingbrook kneels before him, but Richard is unconvinced by his show of loyalty.
ACT 3 SCENE 4
    Walking in the Duke of York’s garden, the queen and her ladies overhear the gardener and his servants discussing the state of the country and Richard’s poor management. Using the image of the garden as a metaphor, they emphasize the pastoral representation of England, describing how the “sea-wallèd garden” is “full of weeds,” “unpruned” and “swarming with caterpillars,” an image that echoes Bullingbrook’s words in Act 2 Scene 3. The gardener comments that “Bullingbrook / Hath seized the wasteful king.” Unable to bear it, the queen rushes forward and demands to know if this is true. He apologetically confirms it, revealing the view of the common people in his description of Richard’s “vanities that make him light” and Bullingbrook “great.”
ACT 4 SCENE 1
    A long scene that forms the whole of the fourth act, emphasizing the swift and irreversible nature of events. Once again, ceremony is important, establishing the court setting and reinforcing the official nature of Bullingbrook’s new power, but also echoing Act 1 Scene 3, forcing parallels and comparisons between Bullingbrook and Richard.
    Lines 1–156: Bullingbrook summons Bagot for questioning about the Duke of Gloucester’s death. Bagot accuses Aumerle of involvement, but he denies it and throws down his gage. Bullingbrook refuses to allow Bagot to accept the challenge, but Fitzwaters and Percy also accuse Aumerle and throw their gages down. Aumerle damns Fitzwaters, but takes up Percy’s gage. Surrey then steps in, accusing Fitzwaters of complicity with Aumerle, and challenges him. Fitzwaters throws down a gage in return, claiming that the banished Mowbray implicated Aumerle in the plot. Aumerle is forced to borrow a gage to throw down in response to this. This sequence reflectsthe complicated nature of the court’s politics. Bullingbrook commands that Mowbray be returned from banishment, but learns that he is dead.
    York arrives from “plume-plucked” Richard with the message that he is yielding his throne to Bullingbrook, who accepts, but Carlisle intervenes, insisting that Richard is king by divine right, and that if Bullingbrook accepts the crown, there will be civil war, and that the “blood of English shall manure the ground / And future ages groan for his foul act,” echoing Gaunt’s prophecies against Richard in Act 2 Scene 1. Northumberland arrests Carlisle for treason and Bullingbrook summons Richard to come and surrender publicly. Bullingbrook’s desire to “proceed / Without suspicion” contrasts with the secrecy that surrounded Richard’s court.
    Lines 157–330: Richard arrives, comparing himself to Christ betrayed by Judas. His declaration, “God save the king, although I be not he. / And yet, amen, if heaven do think him me,” emphasizes the confusion over the nature of kingship: whether “king” is merely a title, or an innate, God-given identity. This question of what denotes a “king” is emphasized as Richard offers his crown (the external symbol of his role) to Bullingbrook. As he does so, he uses the image of a mirror, saying: “on this side my hand, on that side thine.” Bullingbrook asks if Richard is “contented” to “resign the crown.” Richard’s uncertainty is clear, but he eventually formally relinquishes the crown and scepter as well as all “pomp and majesty” together with his “manors, rents” and “revenues,” in a reverse ceremony of coronation. Richard presents a pitiful figure, but when Northumberland demands