To prepare for Henry IV, part 1 -- our next play -- I want you to consult Shakespeare's view of who and what preceded Henry IV in English history: the unlikely reign of Richard II, a child when he assumed the British throne in the 1370s.
Regrettably, I'm seeing that "The Hollow Crown" -- the BBC series of Shakespeare's Histories, formerly available on YouTube -- is now gone!! Free and open to the public in 2012-'13, "The Hollow Crown" has become a DVD and/or iTunes item that's For-Purchase only.
So, to see Richard II today, it's become necessary for students to view an older production. The following RSC production -- made for television in the 1970s or '80s -- features Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud, and other fine English actors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdhoF4VXDZM This will give you the idea.
Please try to watch and make sense out of Richard II by class-time on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Naturally, it will help if you watch with a script near-at-hand. If you don't have a published copy of Richard II at home, see the MIT Shakespeare site for a free copy. Also, unless you're an expert on 14th century English history (!!), it will definitely help to consult Wikipedia -- even SparkNotes! -- to begin grasping the sequence and characters of Richard II.
