Act V Summary

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Scene 1

Queen Isabella meets Richard on his way to the Tower. Richard asks her to head to France so she can be safe. In France, she can join a convent to pray for their well-being, since prayers are all the king and queen have. The queen is sad that the valorous Richard has given up his crown so easily. Northumberland enters and says Richard will now be taken to Pomfret instead of the Tower. The queen will be sent to France. Isabella entreats Northumberland to let her accompany Richard. He refuses, and Richard and Isabella part.

Scene 2

York tells his wife about the humiliation sprung upon Richard when he rode out of London. While the commoners celebrated Bolingbroke, they flung dirt and rubbish on the head of Richard. 

Aumerle, stripped of his title for being Richard’s friend, enters, looking pale. He has a letter in his hand, which he refuses to show his parents. An angry York snatches the letter from him; it is a pledge to kill Bolingbroke, the new king. York berates his son for treason and heads off to warn Bolingbroke about the plot. The duchess asks Aumerle to get to Bolingbroke before his father and ask for mercy.

Scene 3

The crowned Bolingbroke is now King Henry IV. Aumerle arrives before King Henry and asks for a private audience. Henry takes him to his chambers, which Aumerle locks. Before Aumerle can ask Henry for forgiveness, York arrives on the spot. Suspecting his son has locked the door to harm Henry, York shouts that Aumerele is a traitor. Henry unlocks the door, and York shows him the letter.

Henry opens the door and York shows him the pledge signed by his son. Henry is stunned that the loyal York has fathered a son as treacherous as Aumerle. The duchess of York arrives at the spot and kneels before Henry to pardon Aumerle. Henry relents and asks York to murder the other plotters.

Scene 4

Meanwhile, the nobleman Sir Piers Exton, an ally of Henry, misinterprets some words Henry spoke earlier. Exton thinks Henry lamented that he had no friends to rid him of a persistent fear, ostensibly referring to Richard. Exton decides to kill Richard.

Scene 5

At a castle in Pomfret, the jailer brings in food for the imprisoned Richard. Richard asks the jailer to taste the food to ensure it is not poisoned. The jailer says the recently arrived Exton has forbidden him from doing so. An angry Richard hits the jailer, who cries out for help. Exton and his men rush in and attack Richard.

Richard snatches an ax and manages to kill two of his attackers, but is struck down by Exton’s sword. Blaming Exton for sullying the king’s land with the king’s blood, Richard dies. Exton immediately repents his actions and says he will take Richard’s body to Henry for a proper burial.

Scene 6

Not everyone is happy with Henry IV’s ascendancy, and the king is battling rebellion on many fronts. Northumberland enters and assures the king the rebels are being overcome, and Salisbury and others have already been executed. Harry Percy brings in the Bishop of Carlisle to be punished. Henry bids the bishop retire to a quiet place for the rest of his days.

Exton brings in the coffin bearing Richard and confesses to the murder. Henry says that though he had wished Richard dead, he had never wanted him to be murdered. Henry’s heart is full of woe at this turn of events. To repent that Richard had to die because of him, Henry decides to go for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Jerusalem.

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Act IV Summary

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