Abstract
Richard II looks as though it should provide evidence on what Shakespeare himself really believed. The current fashion is to see him as conservative, as Graham Greene places him: ‘If there is one supreme poet of conservatism, of what we now call the Establishment, it is he’ (‘The Virtue of Disloyalty’, The Portable Graham Greene, [Harmondsworth, 1977], p. 606). Colin MacInnes concludes: ‘It is hard … to pinpoint Shakespeare’s moral attitudes, unless to say that he respected formal society, disliked cruelty, and seemed to believe evil won its own retribution’ (No Novel Reader, [London, 1975], p. 18). And Martin Fido: ‘When we look at the plays, we find the cautious conservatism of his business dealings and social aspirations confirmed … From start to finish we find an acceptance of the status quo, a respect for the established social order, and a distaste for change … The truest description we can from our knowledge give of Shakespeare the man is, I believe, an unusually cautious conservative’ (Shakespeare, [London, 1975], p. 140). Richard II perhaps presents what might be called a fatalistic view of human affairs: problems continue, whoever is king.
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© 1987 Malcolm Page
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Page, M. (1987). What Does the Play Mean to Us Now?. In: Richard II. Text and Performance. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08144-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08144-8_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-08146-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-08144-8
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