Essay question: Paying close attention to language, tone and action, discuss the following passage (from Act II.I), showing its significance to the play as a whole.
Within Act II, Scene I of Richard II, Shakespeare draws our attention to the confrontation between John of Gaunt and King Richard through his use of language, tone and dramatic action. The scene, in which Gaunt expresses his innermost feelings about Richard’s reign is highly significant as it poses as a turning point in the play where Richard has the choice to continue as an inadequate ruler or to change for the better. We can discuss the overall importance of the scene through elements such as Gaunt’s critiques of Richard and his patriotism, the relationship between Gaunt and Richard, and Richard’s desperate attempts to maintain his authority.
To begin with, the scene’s significance can be seen through the criticisms established by Gaunt in regards to Richard’s rule. Gaunt describes Richard’s reign as a “rash fierce blaze of riot” which “cannot last”. Such a bold statement serves to convey Gaunt’s honest opinion which is that Richard is causing the state havoc and disruption. The imagery of fire, which must “soon burn out [itself]” further emphasises that Gaunt believes Richard’s reign is destined to finish abruptly if he does not alter his behaviour of endorsing flatterers and over-spending. He also depicts the fires as “violent”, the adjective connoting a threatening, menacing force which places England in a vulnerable position.
In fact, it is Gaunt’s intense patriotism, his devotion to England, which renders him so critical of his nephew’s rule. He laments how Richard has exploited England, referring to his native country as: “This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England”. Shakespeare’s skilful use of auxesis within this line creates a sense of rising anticipation by mentioning each point in climactic order. Shakespeare’s objective is arguably to portray Gaunt as the epitome of wisdom, in contrast to Richard, who is irresponsible as a king and also partly responsible for his own downfall. A contributing factor that led to this depiction of Gaunt’s character was that Elizabeth I was a descendant of the real John of Gaunt. As a result, Shakespeare presents the fictional Gaunt as considerably patriotic and honourable, despite the real Gaunt being known as unpopular and avaricious, such as when he taxed the English people heavily during difficult times.
Shakespeare’s Gaunt however, speaks with a tone of authority and of despair. Shakespeare extends Gaunt’s analogy of England, depicting her as a “teeming womb of royal kings,/Feared by their breed and famous by their birth”. The imagery of parenthood and birth which this line creates, alludes to the cycle of monarchy and how the “womb” or England is constantly giving birth in a figurative sense to “royal kings”. These “royal kings” are “feared” and “famous”, therefore reflecting prestige and honour around the world. As a result, as Pilkington argues, ‘(..) when John of Gaunt condemns his nephew while praising his country, he is separating Richard from that sacred Englishness which, alone, made the king an object of veneration’. To Gaunt, as a result of Richard having “leased out” such a sacred land, he has treated the state like a “tenement or pelting farm”, devaluing England’s worth and reducing her to nothing of importance. This is, in Gaunt’s opinion, the worst possible offence that Richard could have committed, since a king’s role is to protect and nourish his country, especially since England herself has protected her subjects “[a]gainst infection and the hand of war”. Such warnings from Gaunt are fundamental for Richard to understand at the stage in the play, yet by failing to do so, Richard begins his gradual downfall to “nothing” in Act V, Scene V.
Furthermore, part of the importance of Act II Scene I lies in how Shakespeare imagines the relationship between Richard and Gaunt. Prior to this point in the play, it is uncertain as to how both men feel about one another. Richard’s first lines in the play, “Old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster” (I.I), perhaps suggests reverence for his uncle and admiration of his wisdom. Though, it is Gaunt’s conversation with the Duchess of Gloucester a scene later which foreshadows Gaunt’s rising frustration with Richard, which then reaches a peak in Act II. It is within both scenes that Gaunt alludes to how Richard has “destroy[ed]” Edward III’s sons and “Hath caused [Gloucester’s] death”. The fact that Gaunt voices such a statement and makes it known to the Duchess he is aware Richard has contributed to the Duke of Gloucester’s death is bold, since Gaunt risks great danger by potentially humiliating and exposing the current rightful king. The theme of family ties breaking apart is proleptic and foreshadows the War of the Roses yet to come between the Houses of Lancaster and York, as well as Gaunt’s shift to perceiving Richard as merciless. Gaunt reflects on how Richard has denied him sight of his son, Henry Bolingbroke: “The pleasure that some fathers feed upon/Is my strict fast – I mean my children’s looks”. The “fast” Gaunt experiences is metaphorical and is caused by the lack of time he has with his son and the “pleasure” he is denied as a result. The tone Shakespeare employs within Gaunt’s speech is bitter and resentful, creating a sense of pathos as we are reminded of Gaunt’s separation from his son. Such misery created as a result of Richard’s actions creates an emotional barrier between nephew and uncle, producing nothing but further tension and distance.
In addition, Richard’s obliviousness to the seriousness of Gaunt’s tone is illustrated in his own somewhat bright, careless tone as he enters the scene. Upon entering, Richard asks Gaunt how he is: “What comfort, man? How is’t with aged Gaunt?” The colloquial greeting reinforces his casual, relaxed nature. Even when Gaunt begins to criticise him, Richard responds in a confused manner: “I am in health, I breathe, and see thee ill”. However, by this point in the scene, Richard and Gaunt have exchanged a number of back-and-forth stichomythic exchanges, perhaps suggesting that deep inside, Richard is fully aware of the solemness of Gaunt’s words and is therefore expressing his resentment through a tone of indifference instead. This would arguably be plausible, since by the end of Act I Scene IV, Richard rejoices at knowing that with Gaunt’s death looming, the “lining of [Gaunt’s] coffers shall make coats/To deck [the] soldiers for [the] Irish Wars”. Gibson argues that ‘Richard’s responses to the dying Gaunt undoubtedly show his shabbiest side: trivial, hard-hearted, incapable of any inadequately human response to ordinary mortality’. Act II Scene I perfectly exemplifies Gibson’s argument, since Richard, though aware his own uncle is dying, shows little means of sympathy nor compassion. Only a scene earlier, he has rejoiced at the thought of Gaunt dead, illustrating his heartlessness as well as the clear weaknesses forming within his relationship with his uncle.
Moreover, perhaps the final main point of significance within the scene is the way in which Richard struggles to maintain his kingly authority. As the king, to be undermined in such a way by a subject is deeply damaging to one’s power, since it fades away at the line between mortals and the so-called immortal, divine king. Interestingly, while Richard has been scolded by Gaunt, Shakespeare also utilises Act II Scene I to present how Richard is capable of exerting dominance and control when necessary. Richard launches into a string of insults, calling Gaunt a “lunatic lean-witted fool”; the alliteration emphasising his tone of utter rage even more. The adjective, “lunatic”, is arguably used to portray Richard’s shock at having been spoken to so harshly by his uncle, assuming he must be simply mad or mentally unstable to have built up such courage as this. It is also dramatic irony that Richard refers to his uncle in such a way, since Gaunt is perhaps the only character apart from York, who warns him and provides him vital advice which could protect him from being deposed. In a sense then, it is Richard himself who is the “lunatic”, since he ignores his uncle’s advice and enters into a spiral of impulsive decisions which cost him his life. As Baker argues, “whereas rebellion is a crime, kingship is a sacred burden”, and part of the reason Richard cannot maintain power is that he never truly recognises this.
Richard’s threats posed to Gaunt of cutting out the “tongue that runs so roundly in [Gaunt’s] head’ seem merely childish and vengeful, since he cannot accept he is now “Landlord of England(..) not king”. His attempts to counteract Gaunt’s verbal attacks may be forceful, but they do not in any way protect his throne. They are in a sense, wasted breath. If anything, his indifference and defiance make it easier for those who despise him to begin plotting against him.
Overall, Act II Scene I, which focuses on the confrontation between Gaunt and Richard is a significant turning point in the play in which Richard is forced to hear Gaunt’s harsh words about his “sleeping England”. Shakespeare’s use of lexis, tone and dramatic action helps intensify that of the emotions of Gaunt and Richard, drawing attention to the tensions within their relationship and to their differing views of kingship. The scene is arguably the beginning of Richard’s tragic downfall as king and his eventual deposition to Gaunt’s own son, Henry Bolingbroke.
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