The second scene of Act 3 is one of the most crucial scenes in Shakespeare’s "Richard II" (1595) in a number of ways, and the passage in hand might be considered the most important part of it. In the following essay, I will analyse both the dramatic and linguistic aspects of this passage, trying to determine their significance for the play as a whole.

Firstly, I will point out why Richard’s long monologue marks a transformation in the king’s behaviour and how this is evident in the text. Secondly, I will focus on the language Shakespeare employs, trying to establish how Richard’s metamorphosis impacts on his diction, or, conversely, how the poet expresses the king’s change through language.

On the basis of my findings, I will finally assess how significant the passage is in comparison to other key scenes, pinpointing reasons why or why not it could be more important.

At the beginning of Act 3, Scene 2 , Richard learns that all the Welsh troops departed the previous day on the assumption that he was already dead. At that point, Richard knows that this means a loss of "twenty thousand men"1 and thus a significant blow to his ambition to remain in power, but

32. Aristotle, Poetics as quoted on http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/353/artrag.htm

With all these things in mind, one is certainly justified in saying that, other important scenes notwithstanding, the given passage is the most crucial to the development of the plot and the transformation of the main character, whose mindset is now "open for inspection", thus helping us to anticipate the ensuing events.

Moreover, there is a noticeable change in the way Richard communicates with his courtiers: Using the pronouns "we" and "our" as in "for what can we bequeath save our deposed bodies to the ground?"28, he blurs the distinction between him as a purportedly divine ruler and his subjects, effectively putting himself on a par with them.

Some topics in this essay:
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