RICHARD II –The One With the Hollow Crown Speech

Though chronologically compatible with the following plays about Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI and Richard III, Richard II stands apart from all the other historical plays because of its heightened style –something that seems to reflect the state or nature of the king himself; or, at least how he sees it: his kingship is prouder and more regal and divine than those that follow him, and initially on much stronger footing. That he is not necessarily a good king does not come into it –he is king by divine right, and the play is both a presentation of this concept as understood by Richard, and the story of his undoing. We do not see or even learn of all Richard’s reign, just the final phase, where the conflict centres around the Henry Bolingbroke’s struggle to recover his land and title after being banished, and ultimately his taking of the crown from Richard and the latter’s downfall. Essentially it is a play about these two people, whose personalities and world concepts are so very different. So, unlike the earlier sprawling tales of battle after battle and allegiances and intrigues that form the Henry VI plays, this is a much more personal piece of work, almost chamber-like in its intensity –and yet it nonetheless does take in a broader story and certain key historical moments.

It’s a fabulously well-written piece of work too. Though not my personal favourite of the history plays, I must concur that stylistically it is the finest Shakespeare wrote. I like bits of it immensely. The verse is terrific in that much of the time you are not really conscious of it being verse at all –it is seldom decorous for the sake of it, yet each line is crafted with great skill and deftness, allowing each character to come alive and shine through language that somehow seems more modern than a lot of other Shakespeare –modern in the sense that it is immediately accessible and understandable. Notes and commentary may help elucidate many minor points, but I found most of the play just leapt off the paper and came alive in my mouth as I read it –aloud of course (for this is the only way to read Shakespeare!)

Admittedly, I know the play quite well and I have performed large chunks of this it in various contexts; Richard’s personal tale in particular, which I integrated (much truncated, alas) into my one-man performance about Shakespeare’s kings. But a lot of it will be familiar even to people approaching it for the first time: much of the text is part of public consciousness, having been borrowed and used in countless political speeches and slogans, titles of books etc. It is an immensely quotable play –even for Shakespeare!

Richard is an intriguing character, and often quite a difficult one to phathom out. He starts off very arrogant and grand, and is gradually reduced to baseness, but he does goes on and on and on about his plight without ever once reflecting why he has ended up this way, and it is perhaps this quality that makes me somewhat impatient with him, Basically, he is that tiresome creature the spoilt brat whose sense of entitlement knows no bounds, nor really knows of any other way to be. We want to feel sympathy with him –occasionally perhaps we do– but he is also placed firmly at a distance from us, even in his private moments; he is never just a man, he always must be king; and here lies the tragic dimension to his character. Bolingbroke, by contrast, is much more pragmatic and straightforward; a bloke we may sympathize with for fighting for his rights, but not someone we necessarily like all that much. Whereas Richard knows or believes that the crown is something that is his by divine right, Henry has to take on the uncertain, heavy burden of kingship. And with the extra burden of guilt in having deposed his predecessor. His story will, of course, continue through the two parts of Henry IV, so for him this play is really ”Act I”, whereas for Richard the whole of Richard II is really "Act V" of his life and reign.

Apart from changing the identity of Richard’s killer, I have been very impressed with the version of the play presented in the ongoing television production The Hollow Crown –which presents and respects the language so gloriously well that even without a picture it would be more than worthwhile to experience. Some years ago there was also a television movie version that famously starred Fiona Shaw as King Richard, adding an exciting new dimension to that character. I remember that film made a great impression on me at the time. There is also an impressive BBC version with Derek Jacobi playing Richard. On stage, David Tennant probably has given the most memorable performance of the role in recent years, though about 20 years ago the pairing of Alex Jennings as Richard and Anton Lesser as Bolingbroke in a Royal Shakespeare Company’s production stands out for me as the best overall production of the play I have seen. However, I was sadly not around to see John Gielgud in the title role. Like Richard, one can’t have everything.


Favourite Line:

King Richard:
Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth.
(Act 3, Sc.2)

Character I would most like to play: Bolingbroke