Fun Fact: Henry (a.k.a the Duke of Hereford, a.k.a. John of Gaunt's son) is called "Bolingbroke" because he was born in Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire. If we did this today, Prince William & Catherine's son George might be known as "Paddington", which, I think we can all agree, would make the world a better place.
The Story So Far: Everybody knows Richard probably ordered the Duke of Gloucester's death, so when Richard's cousin Henry (a.k.a. Bolingbroke) accuses Thomas Mowbray (a.k.a. the Duke of Norfolk) of having killed Gloucester, presumably on Richard's behalf, things get all awkward. Bolingbroke and Mowbray are about to engage in trial by combat when Richard decides it would be a lot neater if neither of them were around anymore, so he banishes both of them: Henry for six years and Mowbray for life. Still with me? Right, moving on...
That's all for today! Now, usually I update this thing only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in order to keep me from going completely insane, but my friend has insisted I finish this before I drag her to see the RSC encore screening of their current Richard II production on December 8, so I will be attempting to post updates every weekday between now and then. Check back tomorrow for Act 2, Scene 1, in which John of Gaunt finally gets to give his big speech!
Richard II
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10