The Deposition of Richard II in Richard II by William Shakespeare
Richard II is the first play of Shakespeare's four-part
History Tetraology. It tells the story of Richard II's
deposition and Bolingbroke's rise to power. There are
numerous reasons for Richard's fall. He went off to
war and left his kingdom vaulnerable. Richard
disregarded the advice of his elders. He even went
so far as to steal Bolingbroke's inheritance. As
Richard lost the support of the nobles and lords, Bolingbroke gained their support. Bolingbroke used this support to depose king Richard II.
After the banishment of Bolingbroke, Richard quickly gets back to business and makes plans to go to war in Ireland. There are rebels in Ireland and the king must act to suppress them. But the king has little money; the cost of maintaining elaborate court life has taken its toll on the treasury. Richard plans on demanding and borrowing money from the wealthy and even renting out English land. This taxing the English and renting out English land shows a flaw in Richard as a king. Richard II was one of Shakespeare's political works depicting the rise and fall of King Richard II. Richard became king of England as a boy at 10 years of age, although his advisors made most of the political decisions of the kingdom until he matured. During this maturation period, Richard was more interested in learning about aesthetic things in life rather than things more responsible to the monarch. He had very little experience and talent in the areas of military tactics and his decisions relating to the monarch seemed arbitrary.
These traits that Richard displayed were not befitting to a king and a man who was suppose to lead. Rather than look out for the interests of his people, Richard was more inclined to favor the interests of the rich and greedy. He implemented excessive taxing, and took profits by appropriating other peoples land for his own benefit and to fund a foreign war. Richard also went as...