Richard II

Roles

• Richard II
• Queen Isabel
• Northumberland

About this piece

Queen Isabel meets her husband Richard II on his way to the Tower of London

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 being a traitor and conspiring against the king. Eventually they decide to fight in a duel. At first the king accepts but then decides to banish them from England, Mowbray forever and Bolingbroke for six years. Richard II becomes less and less popular among the nobility, especially when John Gaunt dies and he seizes all his properties and money to fund his war with Ireland. They plan to overthrow the king and help Bolingbroke to return to England secretly. When Richard leaves to fight in Ireland, Henry Bolingbroke invades the north coast of England with an army. Richard eventually returns and Bolingbroke claims his lands back at first and then claims the crown. He becomes Henry IV and Richard is taken prisoner. In this scene Queen Isabel meets her husband Richard II as he is taken to the Tower of London to be jailed and then executed. She laments the fact that her husband has changed a lot. As they meet, Richard advices her to forget about her past and move to France and enter a convent. She gets angry because Richard is resigned to go to prison and he replies that his fate is sealed and he can't change it. Suddenly Northumberland, a lord who fought against Richard on Bolingbroke's side, enters and informs them that Bolingbroke no longer wants to send Richard to the Tower of London but to the Pomfret castle. Richard and Isabel bid farewell to each other.

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