Shalott: Richard II

I actually watched this one twice. There was a free version on amazon prime so I watched that first then when I got the Hollow crown from the library I saw it again,

What I felt most when watching it was the sense of profound loss. Richard II inherited the throne from his grandfather Edward III. Richard's father, Edward, the black prince, died a few years before his father and therefore was never king. The memory of the black prince and his military valor and genius lives large in the imaginations of the English and his presence haunts the play. The Duke of York gives voice to this when he unfavorably compares Richards actions towards Gaunt and Henry to Edward's actions towards the French. But what struck me most forcibly was York's anguished memory of a battle he fought along side his brothers.

from: kpbs.org

Were I but now the lord of such hot youth

As when brave Gaunt, thy father, and myself

Rescued the Black Prince, that young Mars of men,

From forth the ranks of many thousand French,

O, then how quickly should this arm of mine.

Now prisoner to the palsy, chastise thee

And minister correction to thy fault!

Edward III had seven sons and together they went to war, always loyal to their father and their brother, the black prince. But time has wreaked her havoc and by the beginning of the play only John of Gaunt and Edmund of York are left. Richard, Edward's son in shape but not in mind, is on the throne and Thomas, one of Edward's sons, has been murdered, it is widely believed by Richard.

In fact the only descendants of Edward III who seem really to have strength left are John of Gaunt and his son, Henry. Gaunt clearly has political power, Richard appeals to him several times with regard to his son and even changes his sentence for his sake. Despite his power Gaunt sees Richard as having a divine right to the throne and will not take up arms to avenge his brother. Finally, when dying he lets lose his frustration and anger.

O, spare me not, my brother Edward's son,

For that I was his father Edward's son;

That blood already, like the pelican,

Hast thou tapp'd out and drunkenly caroused:

My brother Gloucester, plain well-meaning soul,

Whom fair befal in heaven 'mongst happy souls!

May be a precedent and witness good

: That thou respect'st not spilling Edward's blood:

I haven't written much about the title character because I did not understand him at all. Richard seemed to swing from emotion to emotion and make decisions at random. neither portrayal gave me any understanding of his decisions or character.

One last thing. The portrayal of women in this play was sad. Not one of them was taken seriously. The Duchess of Gloucester fails to convince her brother in law to avenge her husband. The queen's statement "Whither he goes also let me go" is completely ignored. When York's wife arrives to beg the king to spare her son he says "Our scene is alter'd from a serious thing, And now changed to 'The Beggar and the King.'". He does grant her request but he seems to have already decided that before she arrived.

Favorite quotes:

For though mine enemy thou hast ever been,

High sparks of honour in thee have I seen.

And if you crown him, let me prophesy:

The blood of English shall manure the ground,

And future ages groan for this foul act;

Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,

And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars

Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound;

Disorder, horror, fear and mutiny

Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd

The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls.