"Shakespeare: Richard II" by A R Humphreys

This slender monograph of literary criticism was published in 1967. It offers a commentary of Shakespeare's Richard II. Whilst there is interest in its enumeration of Shakespeare's sources, and in its description in the political atmosphere of the time (there was a contemporary debate between the concept of the Divine Right of Kings and that of Justice), its greatest failing is that there is no mention of the undoubted fact that Shakespeare wrote this play to be acted by actors upon a stage. It is as if the work is one of poetry (and Humphreys is excellent in describing how the style of the poetry varies both according to character and according to what is happening) and was never staged.

Selected quotes:

• “In structure and theme, as well as in certain phrases, there is considerable resemblance to Marlowe’s Edward II.” (p15)
• “It opposes the old ceremonies of courtly form (often a mask for misrule) to the strong and realistic exercise of power, as it opposes the histrionic fantasies of Richard to the practical cogency of Bolingbroke.” (p17)
• “The striking impact of Richard’s exchanges with Aumerle, Bagot, Greene, and Bushy in Act 1, scene iv, results from the sudden dropping of courtly pose in favour of a venomous realism.” (p18)

October 2022; 60 pages

Other books about Shakespeare reviewed in this blog can be found by clicking here.

This review was written by the author of Bally and Bro, Motherdarling  and The Kids of God