Richard II and Richard III

In the plays devoted to Henry IV and V, Shakespeare tries to delineate exactly what comprises the character of a good Christian King. We see this most in the embodiment of Prince Hal, who is equally at home from King to commoner. However, before Henry IV comes to the throne, Richard II is portrayed in The Life and Death of King Richard II. The War of the Roses, the battle for power between the houses of Lancaster (Henry) and York (Richard II and III) begins with the death of Richard II by Henry IV, the former Henry Bolingbroke. It will end when Richard III is defeated some thirty years later and Henry VII comes to power. In all of the historical plays of kingship Shakespeare is trying to demonstrate what qualities constitute a good Christian king. In Richard II and Richard III, despite the contrasting portrayals of the two Richards, we see that neither does in Shakespeare's portrayals. While Richard II is portrayed more sympathetically than the crafty, hunch-backed Richard III, whose physical deformity mirrors his deformed mentality, both are portrayed as selfish kings who rule more for personal gain and power than because either cares about the commonwealth of the people whom they rule.

In Richard II, we see a Richard at the opening of the play who banishes both Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. When Henry's father, John of Gaunt, (Richard's uncle) dies, Richard steals Henry's inheritance so he can help pay for the war i

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have Richard II executed, kills the former king, but not before Richard is able to kill two of his henchmen. It is suggested in the course of action in the play that if Richard had been the mirror of a Christian king, Henry would never have been able to gain the throne. We see Richard's inability to be thus when we observe Gaunt's revelation to him about how disappointed his grandfather, were he alive, would be in him. In Act II, Scene II, Gaunt says to Richard, "O, had they grandsire, with a prophet's eye,/Seen how his son's son should destroy his sons,/From forth thy reach he would have laid they shame,/Deposing thee before thou wert possess'd,/Which art possess'd now to depose thyself" (Shakespeare 402). Thus, the usurping of the crown by Bolingbroke represents the start of the War of the Roses between the houses of York and Lancaster. Richard III is chronicled in Shakespeare's play of the same name. While there is heated debate regarding the accuracy of Shakespeare's portrayal of this Richard, in the play we see Richard III as England's most ruthless monarch. He is a charismatic and charming malcontent who rises to the throne through a series of treacherous, murderous acts. Along the way h uses his power of charm and

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