In many of his speeches in the play, Gaunt emphatically expounds the importance of the Divine Right of Kings.
In these passages from Froissart is a Gaunt who greatly resembles Shakespeare's character, but Shakespeare further enhances Gaunt's patriotism and loyalty to the king in order to place the emphasis on Richard's divine right to rule.
"So also we are told by Froissart that Gaunt did not attempt to avenge the murder of his brother the Duke of Gloucester, but 'wisely and amiably he appeased all these matters'." (Peter Ure, Ed. (John Froissart, Chronicles, vi, 335-36). in lykewise amonge ourselfe, without God provyde for us, we shall destroy ourselfe the apparaunce therof sheweth greatly. And we se dayly that all realmes devyded are destroyed. The Frenchman are right subtyle for one myschiefe that falleth amonge us, they wolde it were ten, for otherwise they canne nat recover their dommages, nor come to their ententes, but by our owne means and dyscorde betwene ourselfe. He consydred the tyme to come lyke a sage prince, and somtyme sayd to suche as he trusted best: Our nephue the kynge of Englande wyll shame all or he cease: he beleveth to lyghtly yvell counsayle who shall distroy hym and symply, if he lyve longe, he wyll lese his realme, and that hath been goten with moche coste and travayle by our predecessours and by us he suffreth to engendre in the realme bytwene the noble men hate and dyscorde, by whom he shulde be served and honoured, and this lande kept and douted. The duke of Lancastre was sore dyspleased in his mind to se the kynge his nephewe mysse use himselfe in dyvers thynges as he dyd. The following passage from Froissart's Chronicle shows the similarities: It is likely that Shakespeare relied on the Chronicle of Froissart for his characterization of Gaunt. However, in Richard II, Gaunt is the voice of reason, wisdom, and, above all, patriotism. In the Chronicles, Gaunt is a disorderly and rapacious magnate. Shakespeare's portrayal of Gaunt is one of the few instances where he dramatically alters the source material of Holinshed 1. The first and most striking example is the way the character of Gaunt changes. Many of the embellishments Shakespeare makes to the information he found in Holinshed's Chronicles are directed towards stressing and reaffirming Richard's status as a divinely sanctioned king. However, it is the small and subtle changes to the chronicles that so effectively reshape the focus of the play from a simple report on history, to a dramatic lesson on the responsibilities of monarchs. The historical events of Richard's reign are kept in sequence and no significant changes are made to his character. Overall, the Richard II found in Shakespeare's play differs little from the Richard in the histories of Holinshed and Froissart. In order to assess the credibility of the argument that the plays contain the didactic message that a ruler needs the combination of divine right and leadership qualities, we must examine the three main characters, Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, as found in the chronicles and in the plays. Thus, the plays, to a large extent, can be read as a collective guide to help Elizabeth select the next ruler of England. Moreover, it is possible that this didactic message linking all four history plays in the second tetralogy was constructed as a reaction to the succession problem and the potentiality that Elizabeth and her council might choose an heir lacking in one or both of these areas.
This philosophy seems to be a combination of Tudor and Machiavellian theories on the nature of kingship and power.
#HENRY IV PART 1 IN MODERN ENGLISH LICENSE#
A monarch's license to rule is not based simply on his or her divine right of succession, but also on his or her ability to shoulder the responsibility that comes with being divinely appointed – to lead the people wisely, placing the welfare of the nation above personal desire.
The plays make the statement that the best possible ruler must be both anointed and politically shrewd. Through an examination of both the plays and Shakespeare's sources, we see that many of the changes are implemented to promote a deliberate political philosophy. In constructing his history plays, Shakespeare most likely relied upon the Chronicles of Froissart, and, primarily, Holinshed, but he altered and embellished the material found in these sources. Since it is impossible to know Shakespeare's attitudes, beliefs, and play writing methodology, we can only present hypotheses, based upon textual evidence, regarding his authorial intention and the underlying didactic message found in the second tetralogy of history plays. Representations of Kingship and Power in Shakespeare's Second Tetralogy Kingship and Power in Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V
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