SOURCE: Harrier, Richard. “Ceremony and Politics in Richard II.” In Shakespeare: Text, Language, Criticism: Essays in Honor of Marvin Spevack, edited by Bernhard Fabian and Kurt Tetzeli von Rosador, pp. 80-97. Hildesheim, Germany: Olms-Weidman, 1987.

In the following essay, Harrier examines Richard's conduct in Act III, scene iii of Richard II. In the critic's opinion, the king's increasing inability to preserve the ritual show of monarchy is an outward manifestation of his loss of confidence in his entitlement to the throne.

Interpretation of Richard II has inevitably focused on Richard's shortcomings as a man and a king. The special interest of his dramatic figure derives precisely from the interrelations of his double aspect—the flawed mortality and the ritually endowed divinity. It is the purpose of this essay to pursue their connections in ways that may risk the charge of being speculative.

Although it may be argued that the...