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Richard II

Richard II (The Tragedie of King Richard the second)

Author: William Shakespeare

First Performance: c.1595, London

Published: 1597 (1st quarto); 1623 (1st folio)

Genre: Hist. drama in 5 acts; blank verse

Setting: England and Wales, 1397–1400

Cast: 23m, 4f, extras

Henry Bolingbroke has accused the Duke of Norfolk of treason, and to decide the matter, Richard orders that they settle their quarrel in a trial by combat. At the last minute, however, Richard stops the contest and orders both lords into exile. Richard is upbraided by Bolingroke's father, John of Gaunt, for being a spendthrift and for surrounding himself with sycophantic courtiers. When Gaunt dies, Richard seizes his lands. While Richard is suppressing a rebellion in Ireland, Bolingbroke, supported by a number of disaffected noblemen, returns...

[The entire page is 340 words long]

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