Comparing History And Tragedy In Richard II

History and Tragedy in Richard II

An attempt to sort Shakespeare's plays into neat categories may appear to have its benefits when striving to understand his work, but even a superficial reading of Richard II indicates that this approach is largely futile and sometimes misleading. While it cannot be doubted that the play is of a historical nature, based on events recorded in Holinshed's Chronicles of 1577 and named after an actual king, a sense of true Shakespearean tragedy is also present throughout. Instead of trying to analyse or appreciate the differences between these two forms, it is more interesting to understand how they complement each other. Shakespeare vividly brings the past to life in Richard II, and it is

The passiveness of the Queen is notable (the sorrow is 'coming towards' her), and the emphatic positioning of 'Is' at the beginning of the second line suggests that there is no escape from this looming disaster. The dramatic irony of the audience knowing that her intuition is correct can only lead to increased pity for her situation. Meanwhile the tragic inevitability of Richard's plight is touched on with the image of 'fortune' giving birth from her 'womb': the King and Queen are going to be presented with their decided destiny and they cannot change it. The fact that they cannot create their own children only adds a cruel irony to this idea of enforced

The grand scale of this language emphasises the king's lack of control: only a god could accomplish these universal feats. Similarly, Salisbury declares that he envisages Richard's 'glory, like a shooting star,/ Fall[ing] to the base earth from the firmament' (II.iv.19-20). Like Green's metaphor, this use of exaggerated simile is reminiscent of Richard's limitations, the use of 'shooting star' particularly appropriate in describing the brief drama of his reign. Once again, the historical knowledge of the audience can serve to enhance appreciation of this description. Most fascinating are Bolingbroke's comments regarding Richard's imminent downfall, and once again the sense of inevitability dominates his sentiments. Intriguingly, he does not boast of his own confidence in overpowering Richard, but instead sends messages of 'kind commends' (III.i.38) to the Queen. This rather unexpected gesture of sympathy seems to imply that Richard is suffering from an incurable disease. It is as if Bolingbroke is completely uninvolved in the matter of Richard's downfall and is instead witnessing it from a distance, marvelling at the king's misfortunes like everybody