Part of: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (The Oxford Shakespeare) The Tragedy of King Richard the Second

This Liberty Matters discussion about the question of power in Shakespeare’s plays ranges widely throughout his works, but gives particular attention to the histories and tragedies.

Season one of the mini-series The Hollow Crown adapted Shakespeare’s first tetralogy (Richard II, 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and Henry V) into a four episode series, preserving much of the original language of the plays.

One of the most frequent sources for Shakespeare’s plays is Holinshed’s Chronicles, a collaborative history of England. Richard II’s reign is covered in this chapter of Holinshed.

The discussion of Richard II in David Hume’s History of England provides a very different, 18th century, perspective on his reign.

David Tennant played Richard II for the 2013 Royal Shakespeare Company production. Here is his performance of the deposition scene.

Does Richard II abdicate or is he deposed? This entry for “abdication” from the 1881 Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States may provide a place to begin considering the question.