The Complete Richard II

About the Book

Richard the Second is essentially weak and vacillating. Self-indulgent and prodigal, he appears to be a natural candidate for overthrow by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke. He is a man who enjoys the trappings of being king but fails to measure up to the responsibilities. Self-pitying and duplicitous, perhaps he deserves the reader’s pity-but he doesn’t elicit pity from his subjects or his peers. In one sense, then, it seems ordained that he be replaced by the future Henry IV.

About the Author

Donald J. Richardson is still trying to teach English composition at Phoenix College.