Richard II Passivity Quotes

We might think Mowbray is a little passive when he refuses to rat out King Richard for the death of Gloucester, but here we see that he is willing to stick up for himself against Henry Bolingbroke's accusations. In response to the king's demand that Mowbray throw down Henry's gage, Mowbray insists on fighting for his reputation. He's no saint; he seems to have helped to kill Gloucester. But he recognizes how important it is to defend himself against that charge in court. If he refuses to accept Henry's challenge, his reputation will be ruined.

In this play, passivity is destructive, and it almost always ends badly. Here the Duchess of Gloucester tells John of Gaunt that his refusal to avenge his brother's death isn't patience (as he argues), but something worse: it's a decision to condone his brother's murder and accept a pattern of behavior that could very easily lead to his own death. (Gaunt is, after all, Gloucester's brother.) By tolerating this, he's morally guilty of murder, and what he calls patience is simple cowardice.

Gaunt bemoans the fact that Richard has "leased" English lands. Richard can be understood to represent England here. By binding the land in this way, the nation doesn't strive or fight for property, bounty, or glory; instead, it (or Richard) signed a piece of paper and "conquered" itself. What's worse, the nobility has let Richard get away with it.

"Baseness" is the opposite of honor in Elizabethan England, so it's interesting to see what behaviors these characters find shameful. In this case, Northumberland criticizes Richard for compromising with France instead of fighting the way his ancestors did.

When Richard goes to Ireland and leaves York in charge of the kingdom, York recognizes that he can't stay paralyzed by indecision. He's got to try to do something about the fact that Henry Bolingbroke is on his way to confront the king. In contrast to Richard's passive confidence that God will provide, York realizes that he has to be proactive. Despite the difficult circumstances, he issues actual orders.

One of Richard's biggest problems is that he believes God has appointed him king of England and will send angels to protect him, no matter what. So does this explain why Richard never does much to defend himself against Henry's rebellion?

This is where Richard hears that he doesn't have any troops to protect him against Henry and his army. What's interesting is that Richard totally gives up, which says a lot about his weakness as a king. Instead of fighting or taking action, he feels sorry for himself and resigns himself to the fact that everybody dies sometime.

You've got to be kidding. Instead of defending himself (or even running away from Bolingbroke), Richard decides to sit down on the ground and tell stories about other kings who have been murdered. Rather than think of his people, or his kingdom, he wallows in self-pity and tries to think of himself as a story, or a literary figure (and therefore larger than life).

Here Carlisle tries to talk some sense into Richard by telling him to get a grip and fight for his kingdom. Richard is a pretty unstable guy: the minute his power is threatened, he folds and starts feeling sorry for himself. In principle, this isn't that different from all the other ways Richard has let things go badly by refusing to take action.

It's about time Richard did something to defend himself. Here he fights for his life against the men who have come to execute him while he's in prison. He even manages to grab someone's sword and use it! Unfortunately, it's too little, too late: Richard is killed and falls to the ground once and for all.