"I wasted time, and now
doth time waste me" - Richard II
For those who love
Shakespeare's haunting poetry and the great acting of Derek Jacobi and
John Gielgud, the BBC performance of 1978 of Richard II is highly recommended.
The production, now available on DVD with optional subtitles, features
Jacobi as King Richard and Gielgud as John of Gaunt. Like King John and
Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard II is written in verse and is perhaps
best known for the patriotic speech magnificently delivered by John of
Gaunt (Gielgud) prior to his death, a speech that repeats the word "this"
17 times, "This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, this earth
of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden", and so forth.
Although Jacobi was about
ten years older than the 31-year old monarch, he breathes life into the
character of Richard, both as a proud and often despotic king and later
as a contrite poet-philosopher and royal martyr. Appearing aloof with his
high collar, he nonetheless never relinquishes his dignity, though, in
this production, his light apparel makes him look weak compared to the
darkly clad Bolingbroke (Jon Finch). The play is the first of four histories
involving the rise of Harry Bolingbroke into King Henry IV (parts I &
II) and then his son, Prince Hal, into Henry V. Unfortunately it is noted
more for its role in the Essex Rebellion than for its dramatic merits,
which are considerable.
For those unfamiliar with
the Essex affair, In 1601, the Earl of Essex, on the eve of an attempted
coup against Queen Elizabeth and/or Robert Cecil, is alleged to have sponsored
a performance of Richard II by the Lord Chamberlain's Men at the Globe
Theater, a play whose theme is the usurpation of legitimate royal power.
The next day he led a band of 300 followers into London shouting "Murder,
murder, God Save the Queen". The populace failed to rally behind him and
he was tried and executed for treason. While it remains uncertain as to
whether or not the evidence against Essex relating to the play was manufactured,
it was used against him successfully by the prosecution during the trial.
On first glance, it is
hard to see why the performance of the play should have carried so much
weight. Though Richard II dramatizes the deposition of a sitting monarch,
(Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke a.k.a. Henry IV), it does not take a stand
on the merits of the issue of divine right versus deposition and, arguably,
presents Richard as a more sympathetic, even heroic figure than the calculating
Bolingbroke. On the other hand, in a conversation with the keeper of the
Tower records, Elizabeth is known to have said, "I am Richard II, know
ye not that?" The uncertainty about succession and the existence of factions
supporting alternative candidates made her uneasy about its subject matter
and the abdication scene was absent in all editions published during her
lifetime
To fully understand the
play requires some knowledge of the historical events leading up to the
start of the work (see NOTE). Richard II of the York line of kings acceded
to the throne when he was only ten years old and reigned from 1377 to 1399.
Though he was under the protection of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster,
a power struggle ensued to control the young monarch that left a lifelong
impression on the young king. Included in the group of nobles that
became known as the Lords Apellant, were Gaunt's brother Thomas Woodstock,
the Earl of Gloucester, Lancaster's son, Henry Bolingbroke, the Duke of
Hereford, and Thomas Mowbray, the Duke of Norfolk.
As Richard reached adulthood
he turned to his inner circle for support, including his favorite, the
disreputable Robert de Vere, the 9th Earl of Oxford (curiously not mentioned
in either Woodstock or Richard II) and isolated the established nobles
even though he had just concluded a settlement with them. Woodstock was
imprisoned and mysteriously murdered, the first Lancastrian casualty in
the Wars of the Roses. Both Bolingbroke and Mowbray, concerned that they
were next in line for the gallows, turned against each other, Bolingbroke
accusing Mowbray of the murder of Woodstock and Mowbray accusing Bolingroke
of slander.
Shakespeare's play begins
with both men stating their case in the presence of King Richard. After
both sides have their say, Richard calls for Bolingbroke and Mowbray (Richard
Owens) to resolve their differences in a duel. After the ceremony commences,
however, Richard suddenly cancels the event and banishes Mowbray for life
and Bolingbroke for ten years, a sentence that was reduced to six years.
Meanwhile Richard wages war in Ireland to counter the threat of Owen Glendower.
To support his Irish campaign, after the death of John of Gaunt, he appropriates
all of his rightful land and property.
Supported by Northumberland
(Charles Gray), Bolingbroke, in exile, gathers an army to reclaim his inheritance
and Richard goes to meet him. He believes God is on his side, yet, lacking
popular support because of his heavy taxation, he acquiesces meekly after
contemplating the consequences of prolonged bloodshed, and escorts Bolingbroke
to London. After Richard's adversaries accuse him of high crimes, he signs
a confession and yields the throne. Henry orders him confined to the Tower
of London, then announces his own coronation as Henry IV. Though King Richard's
abdication actually took place before only a handful of Lords in the Tower,
Shakespeare embellishes it by adding imaginary soliloquies full of lyrical
Hamlet-like reflection.
Though nominally a history
play, Richard II is more about character than history and could easily
be considered a tragedy. Richard is no doubt a flawed, even perhaps psychologically
disturbed character, yet his final speeches reveal his growing self-awareness
and leave the audience wondering if the War of the Roses could have been
prevented if he had remained in power. According to Dr. Michael Delahoyde,
professor of English at Washington State University, "Richard II is a kind
of watered-down Macbeth: the prior king can be killed, but the new king
has to live inwardly with a cancerous guilt and outwardly with constant
threats, getting no peace with which to enjoy his ill-gotten throne. And
the country suffers."
GRADE: A-
NOTE: Interestingly, there
is an anonymous Shakespeare-like play called Thomas of Woodstock which
recounts the events leading up to the start of Richard II and which might
properly be called Richard II, Part 1, but the work has not found its way
into the Shakespeare canon. There are many vocabulary overlaps, however,
and many feel that the play was an early work of the acclaimed author.
According to Shakespeare scholar, Michael Egan, Woodstock contains over
1,600 lines and phrases that parallel Shakespeare’s work.
Howard
Schumann