When kings the sword of justice first lay down, They are no kings, though they possess the crown.
Titles are shadows, crowns are empty things, The good of subjects is the end of kings.
By bowing down to the needs of his subjects, a king allows others to dictate his actions and hence compromises the essence of his power. Paradoxically, failing to heed the desires of his subjects transforms a king into a self-indulgent tyrant and propels his kingdom towards ruin and decay. William Shakespeare's Richard II considers this authoritarian quandary at great length. John of Gaunt's speech takes place from his deathbed. Every disparaging truth he utters is a lethal arrow aimed directly at Richard's overblown sense of power.