The Elizabethan World Picture by E. M. W. Tillyard

The book The Elizabethan World Picture by E. M. W. Tillyard is an account of the ideas and beliefs of people during the Elizabethan age. The book is an attempt to describe the way Shakespeare and his contemporaries viewed the universe, in order to come to a better understanding of their works. The Play Richard II, written by William Shakespeare, incorporates many examples of the Elizabethan world view. One of the most important ideas portrayed in the play is divine right to rule.

The major theme of the play Richard II is the Elizabethan idea of the divine right to rule. In the Elizabethan era it was believed that the king's power to rule was divinely issued, i.e. an order from God. There is no dispute that Richard II was the rightful King of England. He derived his right to rule from the will of God, and not from any temporal authority, including the will of his subjects, the aristocratic nobles, or any other estate of the realm. Despite this, Richard II proves to be an ineffective and corrupt leader; a leader who many, including Bollingbroke, wished to remove from power. However, as Bollingbroke knew, Richard's throne could not be taken away from him unless it was unlawfully seized. As Richard himself put it,

"We are amazed; and thus long have we stood/ To watch the fearful bending of thy knee, / Because we thought ourself thy lawful king./ And if we be, how dare thy joints forget/ To pay their awful duty to our presence?/ If we be not, show us the hand of God, that had dismissed us from our stewardship; for well we know no hand of blood and bone./ Can gripe the sacred handle of our scepter, unless he do profane, steal, or usurp." (3.3 72-81)

Eventually, due to his ineffective leadership, Richard II does lose his throne to Bollingbroke. This fact is almost ironic because it was Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, who at his death bed put a curse on Richard predicting him to lose his kingdom in a very short time.

"Methinks I am a prophet new inspired/ And thus, expiring, do fortell of him: His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last, For violent fires soon burn out themselves; Small show'rs last long, but sudden storms are shorter; (2.1 31-35)"

As we know, Richard II has not been a good ruler. Though Richard II is the legitimate ruler, he has failed to lead his nation and has exploited the nation shamelessly. In contrast, Bollingbroke is acting in the name of legal redress and has proven himself to be a better leader. The people of England, though they know it to be against their laws, turn on Richard II and back Bollingbroke. This fact, which is a contradiction to the Elizabethan principle of divine right to rule, and represents a vast change in the thinking of the day. This change is best represented by the speech of the gardener,

(Bollingbroke)

"Hath seized the wasteful king. O, what pity is it

That

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