“King Richard II” by Shakespeare
I recently attended a Guthrie Theater production of Henry V. While I’ve read and seen that play several times, I’ve not read either part i or ii of Henry IV. I began them, but backed up further re-read King Richard II, since they all feel of a piece.
It is both a history and a tragedy, so I don’t think it will spoil much to write that things end badly for Richard. Poor Richard. He seems to be doing a decent job as king, recently declared by his now-dead grandfather, Edward III. As usual, Shakespeare plays fast and loose with historical detail, relying on several sources for his play. Superficially, the play is about the struggle between Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke. Ultimately, though, I found this a complex and involving character study of a young, inexperienced king, that foreshadows elements of Henry V and many other of his plays.
For God’s sake let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the deaths of kings:
How some have been depos’d, some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed,
Some poisoned by their wives, some sleeping kill’d,
All murthered–for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court, and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be fear’d, and kill with looks;
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,
As if this flesh which walls about our life
Were brass impregnable; and, humour’d thus,
Comes at the last, and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king! (III, ii, 155-170)
I read the Arden edition, 2nd series, edited by Peter Ure. I didn’t care for this version. The footnotes were concerned mostly with arguing for and against the source material, rather than in explicating the text. There is now an Arden 3rd series version available, so I’d be interested to see how it differs.
I really liked the cover depiction of Richard, and felt it nicely represented elements of his character. He has a high forehead, denoting scholarly wisdom, which is shown in his preference for words and speeches. He has a full upper lip, denoting sensuality. His collar is much too large, hinting that Richard isn’t up to the grand task of being king. And I fancy the look on his young, tired looking face is at least wary, if not actually scared.
I look forward to finally reading about Henry IV, and seeing how well (according to Shakespeare, at least) he fills the role of king.
January 24th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I actually haven’t read ANY of Shakespeare’s “King” tragedies. But it is my fondest hope to one day have a complete collection of his hopes, preferably with each play housed in its own individual volume. Those “complete works in a single book” jobs are just far too unwieldy (with for too tiny type) for me!
Do you tend to prefer the Arden Shakespeare editions, or was this selection occur without any premeditation?
January 26th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I have gone with Arden, because my well-educated and dear friend Thalia recommended them to me in grad school. I find they’re at least as good as the other individual issues. From the research I’ve done, there is no one series that folks agree on, but Arden is usually one mentioned, as is the Riverview anthology. I’ve tried the new Folger editions of a few plays last year. They seemed fine: I liked the covers, they were available in a nice portably mass-market size, and the notes were geared to the meaning of the text rather than the history of the play.