Soliloquies Essay - Self-Realization in Richard IIs Final Soliloquy

Self-Realization in Richard IIs utmost Soliloquy William Shakespeares The Tragedy of King Richard II, first published in a quarto edition in 1597, is the first in a episode of four history plays known as the second tetrology, which deal with the proterozoic phases of a power struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York. The Richard II of the play has been called both mercurial and self-indulgent however, several sustained soliloquies in the play constitute how deeply realized his character is. During one of these soliloquies, which takes place after his manacles and before his murder, he seems to rediscover the qualities of pride, trust, and courage that he lost when dethroned-and so goes onward to meet his death with a spirit more puissant than ever before. The scene (5.5), begins in the keep of Pomfret Castle, where Richard is being held prison houseer, and starts on a despondent note as he tries to reconcile his life sentencetime in prison with the lif e he led as baron I have been studying how I may compare This prison where I live unto the world And, for because the world is populous, And here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it. Yet Ill hammer it out. (5.5.1-5) disdain his despondency, Richard begins to explore how he might live his life out inside the microcosm of the keep, and still keep some semblance of his former life. He finds his life in the keep lacking because it is unpeopled. However, the last line indicates a turnround in this attitude. He is beginning to fight back against the internal forces that stake to drag him into despair and loneliness when he states, in line five, that he will hammer it out. Because a king needs a ... ... and the social function that time will play henceforth in his life. These realizations have make him stronger, and fortified him against the future, for now he knows that he must depend upon himself, not upon the royal blessings of God. With Richards last word s, we see the final result of this moment of truth, this self-realization, as he bravely assaults and kills two of his attackers before dying a nobleman death Mount, mount, my soul thy seat is up on high/Whilst my common flesh sinks downward, here to die (5.5.111-112). Works Cited McKay, John P., Bennett Hill, and John Buckler. A History of World Societies. 3rd ed. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. 452-454. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Richard The Second. William Shakespeare The stark(a) Works. Ed. Alfred Harbage. Baltimore Penguin Books, 1969. 554-667.