The tone of Richard II is deeply ominous, befitting its portrayal of a monarchy in crisis, bloody power struggles, and political intrigue. From the very beginning of the play, there is a distinct sense of foreboding and doom, as King Richard II is portrayed by Shakespeare as an ambitious but ineffective leader who acts indecisively and struggles to maintain the loyalty of his subjects. The downfall of King Richard II is set in motion by poor decisions he makes early in the play, and the play’s tragic ending is foreshadowed frequently, including by Richard’s wife, the Queen.
When she expresses her anxieties to Bushy, one of Richard II’s advisors, he assures her that there is nothing to worry about, but she is unable to shake off her feelings of doom, stating:
It may be so, but yet my inward soul
Persuades me it is otherwise. Howe’er it be,
I cannot but be sad—so heavy sad
As thought, on thinking on no thought I think,
Makes me with heavy nothing faint and shrink
Though the Queen is unable to identify the source of her worries, her “inward soul” warns her of some unseen threat, and as a result she can’t help but “be sad—so heavy sad” that she feels she could “faint.” She senses before her husband does that their fates have taken a turn for the worse, but lacks power to act upon her feeling of impending doom. Her ominous and gloomy statements here summarize the tone of the play overall, which treats the downfall of Richard II as a predestined and unavoidable event.
