Theatre
Synopsis
Shakespeare's lyrical history play follows the downfall of King Richard II, a poetic but politically inept monarch who rules by divine right but alienates his nobles through arbitrary seizures and banishments. When the exiled Henry Bolingbroke returns to reclaim his inheritance, Richard's support crumbles and he is forced to surrender the crown. Imprisoned and stripped of everything, Richard achieves a tragic self-awareness too late, and is murdered by an ambitious courtier.