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Question
Based on your reading of King Richard’s speech, answer the following questions in about 100 - 150 words each. You may add your own ideas if required to present and justify your point of view.
What are the causes for King Richard’s grief?
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Solution
King Richard II was a popular king. He had many nobles at the service. His rebellious cousin
Bolingbroke attacks him with 10,000 men on his side. He sends a message to the Welsh King. sending his army to defeat Bolingbroke. But to his shock, the Welsh army is not sent. He realizes with alarm the terrible fate he would suffer in the hands of his foe and his most impending death in captivity. King Richard is reminded of the power of death that overshadows everything else. Death scoffs at the power of rulers. Losing the battle, the non-receipt of the Welsh army, and the prospect of being jailed and killed worries Richard II.
He realizes that in the hollow crown death had reigned him. In fact, death, a jester had misled him to believe that he was monarchizing England. He can now own only a patch of barren land. He is not an impregnable castle of brass anymore. He is an ordinary mortal. He too needs friends and needs to taste grief and face death.
“Life and death are illusions. We are in a constant state of transformation.”
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The historical background:
The poem is an extract from William Shakespeare’s play King Richard the Second. The play is based on true events that occurred towards the end of the 14th century.
Richard II was crowned the King of England in the year 1367. He continued to be the British Monarch until 1399, when he was deposed by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who crowned himself King Henry the Fourth in the same year. Shakespeare’s play is a dramatic rendition of the last two years of King Richard II’s life. In this brief span of time, he was ousted from his royal position and sent to prison, where he died in captivity.
The following extract is set in the Coast of Wales. King Richard and some of his followers awaited the arrival of the Welsh army [after facing defeat at the hands of his cousin, Bolingbroke], of about 10000 warriors. But to their shock and surprise, they received the message that the army was not coming to their rescue. His followers tried to boost their King’s courage against the news, only in vain. When Richard came face to face with the reality of his terrible fate, he spoke the following verse, famously known as the “Hollow Crown” speech in theatrical circles. In it, King Richard is reminded of the power of Death that overshadows everything else, including the power of rulers, and renders them as powerless as any commoner at a moment’s notice.
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War begets war
Based on your reading of King Richard’s speech, answer the following questions in about 100 - 150 words each. You may add your own ideas if required to present and justify your point of view.
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