Richard II was one of Shakespeare’s political works depicting the rise and fall of King Richard II. Richard became king of England as a boy at 10 years of age, although his advisors made most of the political decisions of the kingdom until he matured. During this maturation period, Richard was more interested in learning about aesthetic things in life rather than things more responsible to the monarch. He had very little experience and talent in the areas of military tactics and his decisions relating to the monarch seemed arbitrary.These traits that Richard displayed were not befitting to a king and a man who was suppose to lead. Rather than look out for the interests of his people, Richard was more inclined to favor the interests of the rich and greedy. He implemented excessive taxing, and took profits by appropriating other peoples land for his own benefit and to fund a foreign war. Richard also went as far as alienating himself from his most important supporters, the nobleman. Ultimately, this led to the downfall of his reign as king.As public discontent with Richard grew, Henry of Bolingbroke, whom Richard had sent into exile, emerged as the strongest opposition to Richard’s thrown. In addition to banishment, Henry was also unfairly taken of his families’ wealth, land, and title, from which he was the rightful heir. Henry contrasted Richard in many ways, in that he was honest, and very practical. Furthermore, Henry was very reluctant to assume the role of future King, eventually accepting after urging and support from the other nobles. While Richard left England to oversee the progress of his foreign war, Henry and the other nobles began plans to take Richard’s kingdom. This was a crucial mistake on Richard’s part. By not taking care of issues on the domestic front, Richard’s followers and soldiers grew increasingly weary of his ability to lead and be an effective king, eventually ...
