{"id":98,"date":"2021-02-06T05:49:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T05:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=98"},"modified":"2021-02-08T12:27:02","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T12:27:02","slug":"richard-iis-loss-of-power-and-gain-of-intellect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=98","title":{"rendered":"Richard II\u2019s Loss of Power and Gain of Intellect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are many underlying themes beneath William Shakespeare\u2019s King Richard II<\/em>. One of the most significant themes is that of the continuous cycle of the rise and fall of nobility. Shakespeare emphasizes this theme throughout the play by following the falling monarch, Richard II, the rising monarch, Henry IV, and each individual involved in the chiastic movement of their lives. The play is grounded on two chiastic structures traveling in opposite directions. The first is King Richard\u2019s move from power to depravity, and Bolingbroke\u2019s move from depravity to power. The second is much more profound, and speaks to a moral opinion that power often hinders wisdom. It is King Richard\u2019s move from foolishness in his power to intelligence in his depravity, and Bolingbroke\u2019s move from maturity in his depravity to foolishness in his power. The two trade places both in authoritative positioning as well as in mature intellectualism. King Richard\u2019s initial foolishness is evident toward the beginning of the play through the conversation with his uncle, John of Gaunt\u2014the deprived and dying, yet remarkably wise man. His newfound maturity is proved in a comparable manner in Act IV Scene I when Bolingbroke summons Richard to publicly and officially surrender his crown. The diction, structure, and rhetorical devices that Shakespeare applies to this passage illustrate that while Richard switched from a powerful position as king to a severe place of depravity, he also moved from a foolish mindset to a place of wisdom and maturity. The word choice and the structure of speech underline his new intelligence, which is further augmented through rhetoric with amplification, alliteration, and imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is necessary to note, before further analysis, that Shakespeare uses this passage as an allusion to the conversation in Act II between Richard and Gaunt. By this allusion, Richard\u2019s shift toward mature intelligence is clearly visible. It is evident, through diction, structure, and rhetoric, that in Act II, Gaunt is significantly more intelligent than Richard. By observing their speech and comparing it to Richard\u2019s in Act IV, the connection becomes clear. Richard\u2019s responses are remarkably similar to those of Gaunt, and opposite to his own from Act II. With this understanding and looking at the passage, diction is one of the most obvious connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pinnacle point of Richard\u2019s demonstration of intelligence begins on line 254 of Act IV, Scene I with a strategic word choice. The Earl of Northumberland, one Bolingbroke\u2019s followers, addresses the summoned Richard as \u201cMy lord\u201d (Shakespeare 4.1.253). Richard quickly interrupts with, \u201cNo lord of thine\u201d (4.1.254). By using the same words to criticize Northumberland\u2019s speech, he demonstrates an intellectual elevation above the conversation\u2014a tactic used by Gaunt in Act II. He accentuates his intelligent position over the earl by advancing the word-play and stating \u201cNor no man\u2019s lord\u201d (4.1.255). Richard\u2019s speech further demonstrates in him a loftier vocabulary than seen before. When insulting Gaunt prior to his dethroning, Richard exhibits a base and immature vocabulary: \u201cA lunatic lean-witted fool\u201d (2.1.115). Here, when responding to Northumberland in like anger and insult he dissimilarly says, \u201cthou haught insulting man\u201d\u2014a very mature reaction by comparison (4.1.254). Richard further employs a tactic of stressing the word, \u201cname\u201d\u2014similar to Gaunt\u2019s word-play with his name in their aforementioned conversation. He states, \u201cI have no name\u201d, and \u201cknow not now what name to call myself\u201d (4.1.255, 259). This speaks to his debased position, but does so with such intelligence that it highlights the two opposite chiastic movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The structure of the passage is also significant in that it again assimilates to that of Gaunt\u2019s idealized, intelligent speech. Gaunt initially speaks in prose as does Richard\u2019s here in lines 254 through 267. This reveals a humble display of wisdom, in that he does not expose his maturity through only the manner of his speech, but through the content of it as well. It also elevates the sincerity and vulnerability of the content. It is clear he did not pine over it; he did not rehearse it; and he does not try to teach them a lesson. He merely pours out his angry and bitter sentiments before his listeners. The passage is further structured with intelligent punctuation. Shakespeare incorporates many dashes\u2014dramatic pauses designed to provoke a sense of deep thought within Richard\u2019s mind: \u201cGood King; great King \u2013 and yet not greatly good\u2013\u201d (4.1.263). This is similarly present in Gaunt\u2019s speech, showing that Richard has arrived, through his depravity, to a place of maturity and intellect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rhetorical devises employed by Shakespeare here in this passage only serve to further amplify Richard\u2019s intelligence. Where his speech had previously lacked rhetoric, he now demonstrates it is replete with it. Shakespeare first introduces amplification to formulate Richard\u2019s statement in the most impactful manner: \u201cNo lord of thine\u2026Nor no man\u2019s lord! I have no name\u201d (4.1.254-255). This is an escalatory statement defining Richard\u2019s depravity. He begins by telling Northumberland that he is not his lord then jumps to exclaim he is not even anyone\u2019s lord. He concludes with the climax that he doesn\u2019t even have a name\u2014a very powerful statement for the name-obsessed society in which they lived. Shakespeare then introduces an alliterate statement to add intellectual affect to the heavy content of his dialogue: \u201cAnd know not now what name to call myself\u201d (4.1.259). This device pulls the statement out from the rest, as it is one of the most significant pieces of his speech. It highlights it, and ensures the attention of every listener. Further, Shakespeare offers a piece of imagery within the text to accentuate the underlying sentiment, and to involve the listeners by igniting their imagination: \u201cOh that I were a mockery king of snow\u2026before the sun of Bolingbroke, to melt myself away in water-drops\u201d (4.1.260-262). The core sentiment of this statement is complete loss\u2014Richard\u2019s deprivation of position, title, and name. The imagery invokes the imagination of the listeners as they can picture in the canvas of their minds exactly what that image would look like. These three devices work together to convey and underline the chiastic movements\u2014the fall of Richard\u2019s position and the rise of his intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This particular passage in the play is very significant to the theme of the rise and fall of nobility, as well as the idea that wisdom does not always coexist with power. This is clear through the comparison and the allusion to the depraved and wise uncle, Gaunt. Every technique that Shakespeare further employs in the passage serves as another indicator of these ideas. As King Richard II falls from power and loses everything\u2014including his name\u2014his maturity and wisdom increase. Shakespeare depicts Richard\u2019s depravity through the content of his speech, and his intelligence through its diction, structure, and rhetoric. By these, he concludes that while King Richard has lost everything of value to him, he has gained something of equal, and perhaps more value than all that was taken away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 18, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forker, Charles, R. King Richard II. <\/em>The Arden Shakespeare, 2002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many underlying themes beneath William Shakespeare\u2019s King Richard II. One of the most significant themes is that of the continuous cycle of the rise and fall of nobility. Shakespeare emphasizes this theme throughout the play by following the falling monarch, Richard II, the rising monarch, Henry IV, and each individual involved in the chiastic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[22,21,12],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critical-analyses","tag-chiasmus","tag-richard-ii","tag-shakespeare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions\/191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}