Richard II water King

Fonbonne

Cécile

KHLyon

Act IV scene 1 Commentary

        In the Act III scene 2 of Richard II, Richard says that “Not all the water in the rough rude sea / Can wash the balm from an anointed king.” By invoking the coronation ceremony, he recalls the permanence of the coronation. Richard thus implies that this deposition is an act of absurdity, it is impossible for him to ever yield the throne to another man. And yet, in Act IV scene 1, Richard has to hand over the throne to Bullingbrooke. This long scene makes up for all act IV, and the uninterrupted staging creates a sense of headlong action. The exerpt I am about to study is the end of the scene, Richard is getting utterly alone in his position, and as it happens, he transforms into a powerful orator, he develops a repertoire of symbolic imagery that is an important feature of his character. But Richard's theatricality collides with Bullingbrooke stoicism and, more than ever, the contrast between the man of word and the man of action is predominent. However, in the end, Bullingbrooke is the one in control, and Richard, in spite of his wordiness that, according to him, is what makes him a king, is deposed, and Bullingbrooke takes the power. Thus, I intend to show that this exerpt is a reminder that, even with Richard's glorious speeches, one can't do anything in front a a true king that uses deeds instead of words. First, I will study the way Richard II wants to show his true power through dramatic speeches and striking imagery. Then I will investigate the contrasting effect between Richard the man of word and Bullingbrooke the man of action. Finally, I will demonstrate that true kingship is the one that can't be heard through words, but through deeds.

1. Dramatic speeches that ought to show the true power of a king

1. Manipulating others

→ Rejects the fault onto others, passing of as the true victim :

• Compares his subject to Judas, uses Pilate as a metaphora : “ Tough some of you with Pilate wash  your hands”, making a reference to act III scene 2, when he cleary compares his subject that joined Bullingbrooke troops to Judases. → He sees himslef as the Christ, a form of martyr, betrayed by his own friend whom he trusted.  + cf the degradation of his own state that he puts into words “Made glory base, a sovereignty a slave / Proud majesty a subject / state a peasant.” (249)

→ Tries to convince others he is not the one they must accuse and blame :

• He accuses Northumberland of breaking his oath of allegiance to the king, an act which he considers being worst than everything he did, because he considers that betraying the king is like betraying god :”There shouldst thou find one heinous Article / Containing the deposing of a king / and cracking the strong warrant of an oath.”

2.  Richard II the orator

→ Rethorical use of speech :

• Rethorical questions on line 226-227 : “Must I do so ? An must I ravel out / My weaved up follies ?”
• Anadiplosis : uses the exact same words that were used by the person talking to him on line 252-253 “ Northumberland : My lord - / Richard : No lord'' or on line 271-272 : “Northumberland : The common wil not then be satisfied / Richar : They shall be satisfied” and he does it even with Bolinbrooke on line 303-304 : “Bolinbrook : Name it, fair cousin / Richard : Fair cousin ?” By doing so, he achieves power over the person that is talking to him, he can't be defeated through words it's almost as if he were using words as weapons to block the attacks of others.

→ The use of striking images :

• The mirror on line 276 : “No deeper wrinkles yet ? Hath sorrow struck/ so many blows upon this face of mine and made no deeper wounds ?” The run on line is accentuating the several time he had to suffer, yet his face is as youthful as it was before. He then accuses the mirror of being “flattering” (278), of making him look better and younger : Comparison with all of his flatterers that were doing the same when he was still in power.

1. The contrasting effect between a man of word and a man of action

1. Who is in control ?

→ Richard's speeches occupies ¾ of the exerpt, yet he does not seem to be the one in control, in fact, as Richard's ability to affect the course of event is reduced, he gets more and more poetic :

• Using metaphora's to escape facing reality : “ Mine eyes are full of tears; I cannot see” (243) when he is asked to read his faults or, when he compares himself to a snowman, melting before the warmth of Henri's solar power : “ a mockery king of snow, standing before the sun of Bullingbrook.” (259) He uses this poetic imagery to underline that he has the power of words, and to avoid recognising he is utterly alone in this scene, and that, in fact, all of this symbolic imagery is of no use before Bullingbrooke taking his power away.

→ He is accusing Bullingbrooke of not being a true king :

• “Mark, silent king, the moral of this sport” ( 289) , to him, being a “silent king” is the proof that bullingbrooke is not suited to be the true king. It almost sounds like on oxymoron in his mouth, a true king should not be silent.

2. The quiet power of a true king.

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