Richard II

Arkangel Shakespeare

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Rupert Graves, Julian Glover, John Wood

Shakespeare's finest verse play is also his first portrait of the psychology of power.

The sensitive and poetic Richard II is undoubtedly the rightful king of England, but he is unscrupulous and weak. When his cousin Henry Bolingbroke returns from banishment and mounts a challenge to his authority, Richard's right to the throne proves of little help to him. Richard is forced to abdicate, but as his power is stripped away, he gains dignity and self-awareness, and he meets his death heroically. Meanwhile Bolingbroke's seizure of the crown has caused resentment among the nobles of England.

Rupert Graves is Richard II, and Julian Glover is Bolingbroke. John Wood plays John of Gaunt.

Public Domain (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

it was a little choppy at the beginning.

it was a little choppy at the beginning but it was a great audio book! Really helped me grasp the text for school! totally would listen again!

Excellent performance

And powerful play. Appreciated the execution of thrle scene in which Richard II looks in the mirror, ruminates on his cisafe, and breaks the mirror.

Wonderful Material Wonderfully Performed

Beautiful play brought to life so well. Excellent in every way. Give it a listen.

Give sorrow leave awhile to tutor me

Oh my dear Richard, hapless monarch with a poet's soul, where have you been all my life? Your eloquent heartbreak has made me fall in love with Shakespeare all over again.

Richard II is a truly wonderful & thought-provoking play, performed ably & in its entirety by a full cast in this Arkangel Shakespeare version. As I followed along with the written play, this production swept me into Richard's medieval world, complete with sound effects and mood music. (The scene in which Richard shouts from the battlements of Flint Castle his defiance of his cousin Bolingbroke was particularly effective, embellished by a mournful wind and birds' cries.)

Richard, the pompous, spendthrift King of England, has alienated nobles and commoners alike with his heavy taxes and careless management of the realm. He listens to flattering sycophants rather than wiser statesmen like his uncle John of Gaunt, whose son, Henry Bolingbroke, he banishes from England. When Gaunt dies, Richard seizes his lands and riches to fund an Irish war, which brings Bolingbroke back from exile to challenge his authority. While Richard constantly asserts his divine right to rule, his cousin acts - and mere humans bring down one of God's anointed who has lost their love and respect.

But Richard is no cardboard villain - he's a weak, self-absorbed man who perhaps had it in him to be great, but only discovers the best in himself through abject defeat. As he loses crown, kingdom and all, he gains nobility and dignity in suffering, expressed in some of Shakespeare's most soaring poetry. The reader weeps with Richard; a bad king he may have been, but only a heart of stone would not pity a man in such pain.

As his power is stripped away, Richard wields the only weapon left to him: the medieval belief in the divine appointment and right of kings. His adversaries never escape doubts about the rightness of their actions. Should men depose those whom God himself has raised to the throne?

With its complex dual protagonists, intricate political plot, and beautifully soaring language, Richard II was a pleasant surprise to me and will perhaps become one of my favorite of Shakespeare's works.

Absolutely Brilliant Performance

I listened to the Arkangel full cast recording of the play along with reading in E Book format from the Delphi Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Be still my heart, the performance was enthralling and emotionally charged. Some of the best Shakespearean lines written by him have to appear in this play. In this work we find King Richard deposed and his crown taken from him by Henry Bolingbroke, not that many of the characters seemed to mind but it was heart-wrenching none the less. Even in the dungeon with the water dripping you could feel the emotional hopelessness he felt. If the live play were as excellent as this was, I for one would give them a standing ovation. Wonderful and entertaining.