Richard II Power Quotes Page 3
(Act.Scene.Line)
| Quote #7 Not all the water in the rough rude sea |
If you're looking for evidence that Richard II is completely naive, look no further. When he hears that Henry has gathered up his forces and is coming for him, Richard blows off the warning and says he is God's "deputy" on earth and is therefore untouchable. This is why Richard never fights back.
| Quote #8 I had forgot myself; am I not king? |
When Richard finds out that Bolingbroke is headed his way with a giant army, he believes that his subjects should automatically defend him, their king.
| Quote #9 Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden, |
This is an interesting moment, because the queen views Richard's loss of the crown as a kind of second "fall." (This is a reference to Genesis in the Bible, where Adam and Eve fell from God's grace and changed the world forever.) Even though the play acknowledges that Richard was a bad king, Shakespeare is still a little nervous about the way Henry IV has come into power – he's stripped a king (who many believe was appointed by God) of his crown. How will this impact England? (By the way, in the next few history plays, we see how Henry's grab for power plagues England with a bunch of civil wars and turmoil.)
