That the deposition scene, in which Richard gives up his “divinely appointed” power and declares his cousin king, was so politically radioactive it couldn’t be published — performed, but not published — in Shakespeare’s time is so revealing of just how much the challenging of power threatens the powerful.
Not much of an insight, I know. But the events of the past six weeks or so, and the conversations around them, have been about this, from fights over so-called “cancel culture” (in which often it seems the powerful are threatened by much less than what others have lived with) to protests over and demonstrations of police violence to what seems like uncharted territory as America faces down a looming election.
But no territory is uncharted. It is a time of apocalypse — which is to say, a revealing, a reset, a curtain drawn back on reality. Richard II, it turns out, tells a very similar story.
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If you missed the first three Richard II episodes live on WNYC, you can listen to them as a podcast in your app of choice (links here). You can listen to the final episode live at 8pm ET tomorrow at WNYC’s website.
My first RII was the Hollow Crown series and the deposition scene was the most monarchical I've felt! It's not because Richard is a good king, but because something so ugly seems to be happening as he gives up the crown. Everyone else is trying to pretend this is less of a coup than it is, and he's so undignified that it shows up their own attempts to spin it as a better transition than it is.
My first RII was the Hollow Crown series and the deposition scene was the most monarchical I've felt! It's not because Richard is a good king, but because something so ugly seems to be happening as he gives up the crown. Everyone else is trying to pretend this is less of a coup than it is, and he's so undignified that it shows up their own attempts to spin it as a better transition than it is.