Richard II

The Life and Death of King Richard the Second, commonly called Richard II, is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written around 1595. Based on the life of King Richard II of England (ruled 1377–1399), it chronicles his downfall and the machinations of his nobles. It is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays about Richard's successors: Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V. Although the First Folio (1623) includes the play among the histories, the earlier Quarto edition of 1597 calls it The Tragedie of King Richard the second. Characters King Richard II John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster – Richard's uncle Duke of York – Richard's uncle Duke of Aumerle – York's son Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk Queen – Richard's wife (an unnamed composite of his first wife, Anne of Bohemia, and his second, Isabella of Valois, who was still a child at the time of his death) Duchess of York – York's wife (an unnamed composite of York's first wife, Isabella of Castile, and his second, Joan Holland) Duchess of Gloucester – widow of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, uncle to the king