How do we measure the worth of our rulers? By the justice of their claim to power or the quality of their actions at the helm of state? King Richard II has wasted public funds and is under the influence of self-serving flatterers. He has arranged the murder of his uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, a plainspeaking elder statesman who has resisted Richard’s misrule. Yet he is the rightful king, anointed by God. In the central scene of Shakespeare’s play, the king is forced to participate in a ceremony in which he formally removes himself from the throne. Deposition was a matter so sensitive that this scene was censored out of the early printed editions of the play, so resonant that the Earl of Essex and his fellow-conspirators commissioned Shakespeare’s acting company to put on a special performance of Richard II on the eve of their rebellion against Queen Elizabeth. Their intention must have been to use the theatre as a way of preparing the people of London for their challenge to the monarch.

A powerful and elaborate tragedy, Richard II remains one of the most politically charged plays of Shakespeare’s illustrious career.

William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564—23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of around 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, of which the authorship of some is uncertain. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.