Shakespeare Power Trip

Power Trip “Among all the things a ruler should try to avoid, he must avoid above all being hated and despised.” (Machiavelli, 50) If Machiavelli’s The Prince is not taken as a work promoting republics, rather how to be a monarch for those considering, then it is fair to say that Richard in Shakespeare’s Richard II needed a copy. On one side, there is a king whose overwhelming flaws (body natural) trump his body poetical. On the opposing side there is a countries recognition of these flaws which willed the country to forget its customs, unify, and ultimately revolt to ensure the survival of England. These aspects are incorporated in different ways depending on the version of Richard II’s ordeals but all the works lead to one conclusion, divine

Richard’s actions are seen as divine by most but this power decreases as flaws in the natural body emerge which ultimately leads the poetical body getting trumped by natural body when Bolingbroke takes the throne. You can see the idea of the divine monarch begin to deteriorate as the play progresses. For instance, in (3.2

Although he would certainly like to get revenge he holds back because he strongly believes Richard is chosen by God and God must be the one who decides punishment. (Shakespeare,1.2 37-41) Richard’s downfall is because people lost the reservations John of Gaunt had instead of saying that bloodlines might not be real like in the older works. In Froissart, “...that you are not the son on the Prince of Wales, but of some clerk or canon.” (460, Froissart) This is the main difference between the old works and Shakespeare. Shakespeare recognizes that Richard the II is legitimate while the others cast it off. This is mainly because Shakespeare lived under a monarch where people were constantly trying to disclaim the blood line. This can be seen during the Essex rebellion when Richard II was played to try to gain support. This is to say that Shakespeare is conscious of the fact that Bolingbroke has no right to rule and by drawing attention to this makes divine right important for not only the play but for the time period he lives in as well. As you can see in the play this problem comes into play shortly after Bolingbroke becomes king because there are plans for assassination on him which are thwarted.(Shakespeare, 5.2