SceneFiend library
RIchard II
By William Shakespeare - Stage play
Roles
- Duchess - Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Female
About this piece
The Duchess curses Hereford and Mowbray
Summary
The play is about the fall from power and death of Richard II and the rise of the first king of the house of Lancaster, Henry Bolingbroke, who will become Henry IV. In the first scene we find Richard II acting as a judge for a dispute between Henry Bolingbroke, the king's cousin and son of John of Gaunt, and Thomas Mowbray, the Duke of Norfolk. Henry Bolingbroke accuses Thomas Mowbray of having killed the Duke of Gloucester, of being a traitor and conspiring against the king. Eventually they decide to fight in a duel. In the second scene of the play the Duchess of Gloucester, the widow of the murdered Duke who was John Gaunt's brother, visits John Gaunt and asks him to seek revenge for his brother's death. John Gaunt, however, knows that the Duke of Gloucester was killed in a conspiracy in which King Richard himself was part of and refuses to take action. He claims that God will punish the perpetrators of the crime. The Duchess, disappointed, decides to leave and curses Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. She tells John Gaunt she hopes they both will die in the duel since she considers them to be responsible for he husband's death.
Tone
Use cases
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