num_pages: 168
description: Written in 1595, Richard II occupies a significant place in the Shakespeare canon, marking the transition from the earlier history plays dominated by civil war and stark power to a more nuanced representation of the political conflicts of England's past where character and politics are inextricably intertwined. It is the first of four connected plays--including 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and Henry V--generally considered Shakespeare's finest history plays.  The drama of Richard II centers on the power struggle between the grandiloquent King Richard and the plain-spoken, blunt Henry Bolingbroke, who is banished from Britain at the beginning of the play. But when Henry's father John of Gaunt dies, Richard confiscates his property with no regard to his son's rights, and Bolingbroke returns to confront the king, who surrenders his crown and is imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, where he is soon murdered. This new edition in the acclaimed Oxford Shakespeare series features a freshly edited version of the text. The wide-ranging introduction describes the play's historical circumstances, both the period that it dramatizes (the start of the "wars of the roses") and the period in which it was written (late Elizabethan England), and the play's political significance in its own time and our own. It also focuses on the play's richly poetic language and its success over the centuries as a play for the stage. Extensive explanatory notes help readers at all levels understand and appreciate the language, characters, and dramatic action and the book's lively illustrations provide a sense of the historical background and performance of the play.
language: English
title: Richard II
titlecomplete: Richard II
characters: Thomas Merke, Bishop of Carlisle, 2nd Gardener's Man, William le Scrope, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, King of Mann, Joan Holland, Sir William Bushy, 1st Lady, Henry Percy "Hotspur", Henry IV of England, Henry V of England, Edward of Langley, 2nd Duke of York, 1st Gardener's Man, Sir Piers Exton, Isabella of Valois, Keeper of Pomfret Prison, Groom, Edward, 2nd Duke of York, Duke of Aumerle, 2nd Lady, Walter FitzWalter, 4th (or 5th) Baron FitzWalter, John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley, Lord Marshal, Gardener, Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, Sir Edward Bagot, Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester, 2nd Herald, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, Richard II of England, Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, Welsh Captain, William de Colchester, Abbott of Westminster, William de Ros, 6th Baron Ros, Sir Stephen Scroop, Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, 1st Herald, Sir Henry Greene
genres: Historical Fiction, Theatre, Historical, School, Drama, Plays, Poetry, Literature, Classics, Fiction
ratings_count: 24177
series: Wars of the Roses
publisher: Oxford University Press