Aspects of Tragedy Richard II & the tragic hero Essay
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Course
Aspects of Tragedy
Institution
AQA
Essay answering the question of, 'Is Richard II too problematic to be labelled as a tragic hero?' This is a high achieving, top band essay covering the entirety of the play, using quotations and tragic themes.
Richard is too problematic to be labelled a tragic hero
In the criteria that is asked to be met for the typical ‘tragic hero,’ Richard does not necessarily fit the
mold. Whilst Richard is fatally flawed in his character, until Act Four – he is burdened by an
overwhelming ignorance, he comes to his anagnorisis so prematurely that Act Five’s further demise to
death is almost irrelevant. A tragic hero’s climactic moment is his inevitable downfall - coming
‘unawares’ upon him and ‘strikes him down in his pride,’ according to A.C. Bradley, if his death were
‘instantaneous’ it would not ‘suffice’ as tragic, unable to cause sympathy in the audience. If Richard is
enlightened of his ignorance in Act Four, a finality of sorts, then how can he be a tragic hero who is
already deceased before he is murdered?
In Act Four, Scene One, Richard’s personal suffering is ignited by the physical deposition of his crown,
he laments, “Mine eyes are full of tears; I cannot see/ And yet saltwater blinds them... they can see a sort
of traitor here.” Richard is two separate people, king and man, however, the two are always bound. Here,
Richard’s grief as man permits him clarity on the flaws of his kingship. As A.C. Bradley theorizes on
tragedy, ‘it made them feel that man is blind and helpless,’ whereas, Richard’s reaction is the reverse of
this. The tears used as a metaphor for his ‘grief’ may physically blur his vision but, this human pain he
experiences, works to enlighten Richard on where the ‘traitors’ lay within his “hollow crown” and how
his usurpation arose. Though Richard’s dissolution as King is rooted by in his ignorance, one of the broad
conventions of tragedy is a delayed sense of realisation on the part of the protagonist, with the audience
(and often other characters) understanding but being unable to alter the course of events. Richard’s early
realization of his fate and his inability to meet this with pragmatism perhaps limits the pity we are
encouraged to feel. Indeed, the whole purpose of Act Five serves little in the ideal tragedy when Richard
hands his crown and envisions himself in “an earthy pit.” Richard’s understanding that King and man are
separate is therefore the death of his kingship itself, which disputes his ‘tragedy’ all together, he is above
an ending of ‘calamity.’
Comparatively, if we were to view Richard’s pain as purposeful, then we must take the perspective of
Hegel, who proposed that ‘the sufferings of the tragic hero are merely a means of reconciling opposing
moral claims.’ Richard’s death is therefore inevitable due to his moral compromise, Hegel suggests the
benefit to society in the event of his perish. When the Irish Rebellion has dawned, Richard declares, “we
are enforc’d to farm our royal realm,” which demonstrates his disregard of his country, as King, his
agricultural metaphor for England, to be essentially a stock to feed upon when he is hungry. It can only be
assumed that in the wake of his demise, the people will live in improvement, as they are not used as
“blank cheques” for an egotistical King of “liberal largess.” Within Hegel’s position, Richard fits the brief
of ‘tragic hero,’ he is brandished by an irredeemable flaw that his demise will present liberation for
society, especially under the rule of his ‘humble and familiar’ antithesis, Bullingbrook.
On the other hand, if we shed light on Shakespeare’s use of Carlisle, the significance of divinity seems to
outweigh that of character. According to Carlisle, therefore – God, the usurpation of Richard would
“manure the ground” with “the blood of English men.” This exaggerative metaphor, also agricultural, is
imperative indicative of the disruption to the natural order of society; it would be a sacrilegious
destruction of God’s will, and therefore a harsh damage would be done to the country. Society seems to
provide an undeniable placement in whether we can define Richard as a ‘tragic hero’; however,
considering Shakespeare’s audience and the emphasis on religion in the Elizabethan era, it seems that
Carlisle’s disparity despair over his death would be shared by spectators. Elizabeth I was on the throne by
birthright, and though she had Catholic threat to her position, it would have been too controversial to
insight that the audience, her ‘subjects’, would benefit if she were deposed. Therefore, I believe Richard
is not tragic, but was unable to sympathize with his country from such a high position, and the
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