KING RICHARD II. THE PLOT. THE English historical dramas of Shakespeare are intended to depict the events connected with the history of his own country. They usually possess much that is authentic, although he uses the license of a poet to introduce many imaginary scenes. According to Malone, 'The Tragedie of King Richard II. ' was the second of Shakespeare's historical plays. It was probably written 1593-4.1 There were four quarto editions of this play published during the life of Shakespeare, i.e., 1597, entered at Stationers' Hall by Andrew Wise, August 29, 1598, 1608, and 1615. That part of the fourth act in which Richard is introduced to make the surrender of his crown, comprising one hundred and fifty-four lines, was never printed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The quarto of 1608 first gives this scene. This play is founded on 'Holinshed's Chronicle,' although it is evident that Shakespeare also had recourse to the Chronicles of Hall and Fabian. It professes to represent the life and death of King Richard II., but the action does not begin until the twentieth of his reign. There were two plays on the same subject extant in Shakespeare's time; one called Henry IV.,' in which Richard II. was deposed and killed on the stage, performed at the Globe Theatre, at the request of Sir Gilly Merrick and other followers of Essex, on the afternoon before his insurrection in 1601. The manager of the Globe company had forty shillings extra to play it, as it was an old play and would not draw. The second play of Richard II.' is mentioned by Forman in his 'Diary;' but this was the 'Life and Death of Jack Straw,' published in 1593, revived in 1610. 6 This play, which in many respects is a true history of the times 1 There is no conclusive evidence as to the year in which 'King Richard II.' was written. |