How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #1
God's is the quarrel; for God's substitute,
His deputy anointed in His sight,
Hath caused his death: the which if wrongfully,
Let heaven revenge; for I may never lift
An angry arm against His minister.
DUCHESS
Where then, alas, may I complain myself?
JOHN OF GAUNT
To God, the widow's champion and defense.
DUCHESS
Why, then, I will. Farewell, old Gaunt. (1.1.2)
John of Gaunt is willing to let the king get away with murder because he thinks Richard is God's "deputy" on earth, meaning Richard has been chosen by God to be king. He can do whatever he wants, since he doesn't have to answer to anyone but God. As we'll see, though, not everyone sees kingship this way.
Quote #2
We will ourself in person to this war:
And, for our coffers, with too great a court
And liberal largess, are grown somewhat light,
We are inforced to farm our royal realm;
The revenue whereof shall furnish us
For our affairs in hand: if that come short,
Our substitutes at home shall have blank charters;
Whereto, when they shall know what men are rich,
They shall subscribe them for large sums of gold
And send them after to supply our wants;
For we will make for Ireland presently. (1.4.5)
Richard has been lousy at managing his money and is too broke to fund his war in Ireland, which is why he's leased out his right to tax. This raises an important question: if the monarch is a lousy king who mismanages funds, steals from his own people, and murders his political enemies, do the people have a right to get rid of him? Richard's answer would be "no," because he sees himself as being chosen by God to be king. But are people just supposed to stand around waiting for God to get rid of the king?
Quote #3
Ourself and Bushy, Bagot here and Green
Observed his courtship to the common people;
How he did seem to dive into their hearts
With humble and familiar courtesy,
What reverence he did throw away on slaves,
Wooing poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles
And patient underbearing of his fortune,
As 'twere to banish their affects with him.
Off goes his bonnet to an oyster-wench;
A brace of draymen bid God speed him well
And had the tribute of his supple knee,
With 'Thanks, my countrymen, my loving friends;'
As were our England in reversion his,
And he our subjects' next degree in hope. (1.4.4)
Richard is relieved when he has an excuse to banish Henry Bolingbroke from England. Here we learn that Henry is a favorite among the commoners. Even though Richard would insist that they don't technically have a say in who should be king, Richard is just a teensy bit nervous about Bolingbroke's popularity. What would happen if the people decided they wanted Henry to be their monarch?
Quote #4
O my liege,
Pardon me, if you please; if not, I, pleased
Not to be pardon'd, am content withal.
Seek you to seize and gripe into your hands
The royalties and rights of banish'd Hereford?
Is not Gaunt dead, and doth not Hereford live?
Was not Gaunt just, and is not Henry true?
Did not the one deserve to have an heir?
Is not his heir a well-deserving son?
Take Hereford's rights away, and take from Time
His charters and his customary rights;
Let not to-morrow then ensue to-day;
Be not thyself; for how art thou a king
But by fair sequence and succession?
Now, afore God – God forbid I say true! –
If you do wrongfully seize Hereford's rights,
Call in the letters patent that he hath
By his attorneys-general to sue
His livery, and deny his offer'd homage,
You pluck a thousand dangers on your head,
You lose a thousand well-disposed hearts
And prick my tender patience, to those thoughts
Which honour and allegiance cannot think.
KING RICHARD II
Think what you will, we seize into our hands
His plate, his goods, his money and his lands. (2.1.7)
When John of Gaunt dies, Richard helps himself to all the guy's land and wealth. This is a big no-no (even for a king) because a man's land, wealth, and titles are supposed to pass down to his eldest son. (In this case, the eldest son is Henry Bolingbroke, who's recently been banished.) As York points out, if Richard takes away Henry Bolingbroke's birthright, he's crossing a major line. After all, the rules that say Henry should get his dad's land and wealth are the same rules that say kings should inherit the crown from their fathers. If Richard goes ahead and steals Henry's birthright, he'll lose the loyalty of his subjects. He'll also open himself up to the possibility that someone could come along and steal his birthright (the title of king).
Quote #5
The commons hath he pill'd with grievous taxes,
And quite lost their hearts: the nobles hath he fined
For ancient quarrels, and quite lost their hearts. (2.1.4)
According to Lord Ross, Richard has lost the confidence of his people. This is important, because even though Richard says the opinion of the people don't impact him one way or another, we know he's dead wrong.
Quote #6
Well, well, I see the issue of these arms:
I cannot mend it, I must needs confess,
Because my power is weak and all ill left:
But if I could, by Him that gave me life,
I would attach you all and make you stoop
Unto the sovereign mercy of the king;
But since I cannot, be it known to you
I do remain as neuter. So, fare you well;
Unless you please to enter in the castle
And there repose you for this night. (2.3.5)
As York points out, there's nothing he can do to stop Henry from storming through England with his army and taking Richard's crown. This suggests that being a king requires physical power and a willingness to be forceful, which Richard II lacks.
Quote #7
Not all the water in the rough rude sea
Can wash the balm off from an anointed king;
The breath of worldly men cannot depose
The deputy elected by the Lord:
For every man that Bolingbroke hath press'd
To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown,
God for his Richard hath in heavenly pay
A glorious angel: then, if angels fight,
Weak men must fall, for heaven still guards the right. (3.2.3)
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?
Awake, thou coward majesty! thou sleepest.
Is not the king's name twenty thousand names?
Arm, arm, my name! a puny subject strikes
At thy great glory. (3.2.5)
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,
How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing news?
What Eve, what serpent, hath suggested thee
To make a second fall of cursed man?
Why dost thou say Richard is deposed?
Darest thou, thou little better thing than earth,
Divine his downfall? Say, where, when, and how,
Camest thou by this ill tidings? speak, thou wretch. (3.4.8)
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.)
Quote #10
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Are you contented to resign the crown?
KING RICHARD II
Ay, no; no, ay; for I must nothing be;
Therefore no no, for I resign to thee.
Now mark me, how I will undo myself;
I give this heavy weight from off my head
And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,
The pride of kingly sway from out my heart;
With mine own tears I wash away my balm,
With mine own hands I give away my crown,
With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,
With mine own breath release all duty's rites:
All pomp and majesty I do forswear;
My manors, rents, revenues I forego;
My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny:
God pardon all oaths that are broke to me!
God keep all vows unbroke that swear to thee!
Make me, that nothing have, with nothing grieved,
And thou with all pleased, that hast all achieved!
Long mayst thou live in Richard's seat to sit,
And soon lie Richard in an earthly pit!
God save King Henry, unking'd Richard says,
And send him many years of sunshine days!
What more remains? (4.1.5)
This is an intense moment, don't you think? Richard gives up his crown without a physical struggle, but he certainly has a lot to say about it. We talk about this more in "Symbolism." See you there.