false 82397 102 This is the latest edition in this successful series. It is fully annotated, with the notes facing the text. There are helpful sections at the front, and at the back there is a very wide range of questions for students, as well as the background to Shakespeare's England. 1946935 book 1595 Richard II (Oxford School Shakespeare Series) total:1288|5:291|4:397|3:439|2:134|1:27| 1288 4655 1647 46 5 4 false false Mon May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 21 10:26:05 -0700 2007 Mon May 19 18:10:25 -0700 2008
"Villain, thy own hand yiel...more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jan 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 10:20:41 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 10:29:05 -0800 2009 Richard II, I've swung between awarding 2, 3 or 4 stars to it. Initially, the play didn't impress, and the soliloquies seemed overwrought and overlong. However, the persevering soul will find some amazing, four-star-worthy passages, the most famous perhaps being Gaunt's paean to England...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 03 08:53:04 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 08:54:48 -0800 2009

Overview: Richard is a poor king who wastes the wealth of his land and office by lascivious living and rewarding worthless flatterers. The kingdom groans under his extravagance and poor rul...more...]]> 3 0 false true Wed Jul 22 22:01:22 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 14:08:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 1 false false Thu Mar 06 09:43:43 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 06 09:43:43 -0800 2008 4 1 false false Thu Jan 17 12:36:24 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 17 12:37:27 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 13:05:17 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 13:11:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 16 20:55:04 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 21:07:00 -0800 2008
Act II, Scene I:

Gaunt:
..."This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jul 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 29 06:44:28 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 04 10:38:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 12:50:59 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 13:07:23 -0700 2009
An out of touch King named Richard (Dick?) wastes his country's treasure on a frivolous war that he's been talked into by a small cabal of flatterers. He believes he rules by divine right (unitary executive?) and is characterized by naive optim...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 19:57:50 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 20:01:16 -0700 2009
"O, who can hold a fire in his hand
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus?
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite
By bare imagination of a feast?
Or wallow naked in December snow
By thinking on fantastic summer's heat?
O, no! the apprehens...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Apr 04 12:12:02 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 12:16:29 -0700 2009
If you really want a taste of Shakespeare's language, give this one a try. Pay s...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 19:24:44 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 19:29:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Aug 18 12:22:48 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 18 12:30:12 -0700 2007 Henry V (the Saint Crispin's Day speech--thank you, Renaissance Man), it really does take some knowledge of English history, both what the play is depicting and what was h...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 14 20:39:40 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 09:24:52 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 09:06:16 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 09:07:19 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 08:23:52 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 08:39:21 -0800 2009 And tell sad stories of the death of kings."
Gardens, plots, and tales enrich this sad story of the unkinging of gentle Richard.]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1986 Fri Aug 07 13:34:21 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 13:38:23 -0700 2009 2 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat May 30 11:08:51 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 11:09:56 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jun 14 16:09:33 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 14 16:10:12 -0700 2007 Richard the Second is far from my favorite Shakespeare play, but it does contain one of my favorite speeches, which I used in a 5th grade Tories vs. Radicals debate in which I was assigned to convince representatives from the Colonies not to go to war with the mother country:

This royal t...more...]]>