Page 83 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

72 / Shakespeare in the Movies

divine right. Among the honorable men he offends is Bolingbroke,
who is banished on Richard's whim; compounding this mistake, the
king wrongfully seizes lands belonging to Bolingbroke's father, John
of Gaunt. Bolingbroke is wise, strong, capable, fair-minded, and a
natural leader. He possesses every quality required by a king, but he
isn't in line for the throne, and therein rests the central concept of
the play.
Is it ever proper to dethrone a king, however incompetent, if he is
not outwardly evil? It's all but impossible for the audience, then or
today, not to root for the usurper. To make matters more complex,
Bolingbroke is morally gray. He agrees to lead the rebels (a term
which, however positive in our time, was anathema to Shakespeare's
generation) only for "the general good," to save what his father
describes as "demiparadise." At moments, though, Bolingbroke
appears more ambitious than he would care to admit or perhaps is
aware of on a conscious level.
Bolingbroke, both saviour and usurper, serves as predecessor to
the modern antihero. He is doomed if he does and doomed if he
doesn't. After dethroning Richard and declaring himself Henry IV,
the new king is overheard by his followers grumbling that his reign
would go easier if only Richard, imprisoned, were out of the picture.
When those friends slip off to do the deed, however, Henry rushes to
Richard's aid but arrives too late. Did he knowingly speak Richard's
death warrant, then have second thoughts? Did he have no idea that
his words might be taken literally? Shakespeare leaves the situation
ambiguous. Henry experiences both relief and guilt at Richard's
death and pledges a pilgrimage to the Holy Land which he'll contin-
ually put off.
If, at the end, Bolingbroke seems less the emerging hero, so
Richard conversely grows in stature. "I wasted time," he says with
a sigh, "and now time doth waste me." The line conveys self-
awareness, if tragically tardy, coupled with an admission of kingly
responsibilities. Richard has grown, too late to save his life or
crown but not too late to redeem him in the audience's eyes. As
Richard expires, we like him more than we thought possible;
when Henry offers feeble excuses for his rude, if understandable,
act of rebellion, we're disappointed in a man we once uncritically
admired.