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Lisa's Reviews > King Richard II
King Richard II
by
by
"They love the poison not that do poison need..."
Henry IV, alias Lancaster, alias Bolingbroke and plenty of other names, speaks truth to his own power in the end, admitting that he needed the eloquent incompetent Richard to be dead to grow, while also knowing that his oppenent's death will be a stain on his own power forever after.
What a marvellous study in bad leadership - making one wonder if there is any good one, as Richard and Bolingbroke are so good at being bad in so different ways that it hardly leaves any space between them for a better leadership (in theory): random whim and entitlement versus brutal Macchiavellianism and strength of weapons?
Which one do you pick? If you had to have a king, would you prefer Richard or Bolingbroke? It is a bit like asking which of our ruler clowns we prefer these days, I realise. Is power always this ugly?
Luckily, Shakespeare has the words. And they are getting more and more beautiful, the more powerful they get. As for kings, they live best in the mirror of great poets. As real people they are a mess.
"Then am I kinged again, and by and by,
Think that I am unkinged by Bolingbroke,
And straight am nothing. But whate'er I be
Nor I nor any man that but man is
With nothing shall be pleased till he be eased
With being nothing."
Neither did I waste time when I read this, nor did time waste me. But it was a tough ride!
Henry IV, alias Lancaster, alias Bolingbroke and plenty of other names, speaks truth to his own power in the end, admitting that he needed the eloquent incompetent Richard to be dead to grow, while also knowing that his oppenent's death will be a stain on his own power forever after.
What a marvellous study in bad leadership - making one wonder if there is any good one, as Richard and Bolingbroke are so good at being bad in so different ways that it hardly leaves any space between them for a better leadership (in theory): random whim and entitlement versus brutal Macchiavellianism and strength of weapons?
Which one do you pick? If you had to have a king, would you prefer Richard or Bolingbroke? It is a bit like asking which of our ruler clowns we prefer these days, I realise. Is power always this ugly?
Luckily, Shakespeare has the words. And they are getting more and more beautiful, the more powerful they get. As for kings, they live best in the mirror of great poets. As real people they are a mess.
"Then am I kinged again, and by and by,
Think that I am unkinged by Bolingbroke,
And straight am nothing. But whate'er I be
Nor I nor any man that but man is
With nothing shall be pleased till he be eased
With being nothing."
Neither did I waste time when I read this, nor did time waste me. But it was a tough ride!
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Reading Progress
July 24, 2020
–
Started Reading
July 24, 2020
– Shelved
July 24, 2020
–
37.27%
"How can a sword prove a fact, my dear gentlemen Bolingbroke and Mowbray, if a word cannot? Well, it can cure abundant rage, apparently."
page
221
July 25, 2020
–
51.94%
""I see thy glory like a shooting star
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.""
page
308
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.""
July 25, 2020
–
67.12%
""You may my glories and my state depose,
But not my griefs; still am I king of those.""
page
398
But not my griefs; still am I king of those.""
July 26, 2020
– Shelved as:
shakespeare
July 26, 2020
–
Finished Reading
