Application of Law Depicted as a Theatre in William Shakespeare’s Play “Richard Ii”

The article investigates how the application of law as it is depicted in Shekespeare’s “Richard II” includes the elements of a stage performance. These elements exist for both the participants and spectators on stage and this play’s audience. The espisodes of the play analyzed in the article are that of the court of chivalry, where King Richard II functions as a judge, that of the start of judicial combat, after which the exile of competitors follows; that of the meeting between the Duke of York who was left as Governor of the land by Richard and Bolingbroke who has returned from exile, that of Bolingbroke’s order to execute Richard’s favourites, that of parliament functioning as court; that of the abdication of Richard; that of Henry IV granting pardon to a conspirator against him, that of Richard in prison and that of Henry rewarding his followers of refusing to reward. The conclusion is that the play, among other things, depicts the application of law functioning in times of a heavy political crisis, and that both principal characters of the play, Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, being offenders, use the application of law as a means to create their positive images.