|
Have questions?
Contact us
Already a member? Sign in
|
Get every literary device explanation for Richard IIPlus so much more...
Sign up for LitCharts A+Get instant access to every literary device explanation, plus so much more...
Foreshadowing
Explanation and Analysis—War of the Roses:
The Bishop of Carlisle foreshadows the historical conflicts that will follow from the dethroning of Richard, namely the violent and bloody War of the Roses, which Shakespeare covers in other plays. Speaking in defiance of Bolingbroke and his allies, he states:
My Lord of Hereford here, whom you call king,
Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford’s king,
And if you crown him, let me prophesy
The blood of English shall manure the ground
And future ages groan for this foul act,
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,
And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound.
Here, the Bishop condemns Bolingbroke and the defecting lords for dethroning Richard II and prophesies that this “foul act,” in violating God’s designs, will lead to dire consequences for England, such as wars that will leave the ground of the nation soaked in blood. Audiences in Shakespeare’s time would have understood that the Bishop is here foreshadowing the War of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid 15th century. The Bishop imagines “tumultuous wars” in which “kin” will fight against “kin,” clearly alluding to the War of the Roses, which split many of the noble families of England and turned family members into bitter enemies.
Through this allusion to the War of the Roses, Shakespeare suggests that these later events were sparked by the crisis of royal succession following from the dethronement of Richard II. Shakespeare, then, highlights the important role that the events of this play held in shaping the future of Britain.
Monthly
Annual (Best Value)
$595USD/mo
Charged $71.40 USD every year
Teacher$795USD/mo
Charged $95.40 USD every year
Literature Guide PDFs
LitCharts PDFs for every book you'll read this year.
Instant PDF downloads of all 2241 LitCharts literature guides and of every new one we publish. Try a free sample literature guide.
"Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
Quotes Explanations
Find the perfect quote. Understand it perfectly. Then rock the citation, too.
For all 49,971 quotes we cover.
For all 49,971 quotes we cover.
Teacher Editions
Close reading made easy for students.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Common Core-aligned
PDFs of modern translations of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 3 longer poems.
Literary Terms and Devices
Definitions and examples for every literary term and device you need to know.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Try a free sample literary term PDF.
Advanced Search
Refine any search. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more.
Related Themes
Comparing and contrasting texts? Find where any theme occurs across all of LitCharts in seconds.
Poetry Guides
Line-by-line explanations and analysis of figurative language and poetic devices.
For every lyric poem we cover.
For every lyric poem we cover.
