King Richard the Second
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Students and researchers of Shakespearean drama and English literature
- Readers interested in English history plays and the politics of kingship
- Advanced learners who wish to read the English original closely and build a feel for classical English
Not a good fit for
- Complete beginners with no experience reading English drama
- Readers seeking only light entertainment and uninterested in historical background
Reading tips
- Read the plot summary and character list first, and clarify the royal genealogy before entering the text
- Focus on close reading of Richard's abdication and the prison soliloquy to appreciate the shifts in language and psychology
- Read alongside Henry IV, Part 1 to understand the continuation of the kingship theme
- Use annotated editions or introductory materials to fill in the background of medieval English history
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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FAQ
Is this book the English original or a Chinese translation?
Can I read it without a foundation in English history?
Is this edition suitable for academic citation?
Comments
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About the author
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was the greatest playwright, poet and actor of the English Renaissance. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he is known as the "Bard of Avon." He wrote roughly thirty-seven to thirty-nine plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and narrative poems. His representative works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His works span tragedy, comedy and history play, distinguished by rich, poetic language and profound characterization. His explorations of human nature, power, love and fate have had a lasting influence, and his works have been translated into many languages and circulated widely around the world.
