Richard II · Chapter
Scene V explained
Imprisoned at Pomfret Castle, Richard reflects on his fall from power through a soliloquy comparing his prison to the world.
What happens
Imprisoned at Pomfret Castle, Richard reflects on his fall from power through a soliloquy comparing his prison to the world. He is visited by a loyal groom who tells him that Bolingbroke rode his favorite horse, Barbary, on coronation day. Richard rails against the horse's pride and his own burdens. When the Keeper brings food, Richard refuses to let him taste it first, suspecting poison. Sir Pierce of Exton and his servants attack; Richard kills two before Exton strikes him down. Richard dies, and Exton regrets the deed, vowing to bring the body to the living king.
Themes in this chapter
Grief and Mortality
Richard's soliloquy dwells on his own death, the passage of time, and the futility of ambition; his murder concludes the theme.
Identity and Transformation
Richard's meditation on being 'nothing' and playing 'many people' in his mind explores the dissolution of royal identity.
Loyalty and Betrayal
The groom's loyalty contrasts with the betrayal by Exton and the horse Barbary's symbolic disloyalty.
Characters to notice
- King Richard II
Delivers a profound soliloquy on imprisonment, time, and identity; learns of Bolingbroke's use of his horse; killed by Exton.
- Groom
Former stable groom who visits Richard in prison, reports that Bolingbroke rode Richard's horse Barbary on coronation day.
- Keeper
Brings food to Richard but refuses to taste it first on Exton's orders; calls for help during the attack.
- Sir Pierce of Exton
Leads the assassination of Richard; strikes him down and later expresses regret, calling the deed 'chronicled in hell.'
- Henry Bolingbroke
Referenced as the usurper who rode Richard's horse and whose 'proud joy' contrasts with Richard's suffering.
Key passages
“I have been studying how I may compare / This prison where I live unto the world”
Richard tries to find a metaphor linking his prison cell to the wider world.
Opens his soliloquy on isolation and self-reflection.
“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me”
Richard acknowledges that he squandered his reign, and now time consumes him.
Central line expressing regret and the reversal of fortune.
“That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire / That staggers thus my person”
Richard curses the hand that wounds him, condemning it to eternal hellfire.
Spoken as he is struck down by Exton.