Sabina Georgiana Brezeanu

Tutor Associate Professor Ioana Zirra

Code of honour in Richard II

In the medieval time the code of honour was the basic for the man and knights of the court.The knights from the court where supposed to be the moral men who would protect everyone and who would do anything to respect the code .The code of honour supposed to be a silent pact between knights,whom would honour the king,so we couldnt think they would lie or betray him and thats not it.They would not even permit to be named liars,they had their dignity and protected their name so they were very strict when one dared to put up with them.The code defiend the knight as a perfect being who would be loyal and have faith in God. Richard II stands up for braking these tales and shows us that even in those times when dignity and loyalty must have been everything,everyone seemed to be led by their personal desires and ambitions.Also,the writter gives us two examples of people in the play: some who are loyal and are gouverned by the code of honour and some that are taint to break it. From my point of virtue,Shakespeare shows what men should be and then gives us the real picture: the lack of honest virtues and honesty. I strongly consider that John of Gaunt is the only noble who respects the code until he dies.In contrast with Richard who seems to regain his nobility,step by step,until he is put in prison and sees that the lack of honesty and interest forward his people brought him in a undesired

estate.He is not respected not only by his people but by his family also,only his wife remains loyal to him to the end.Not only he respects the code but he thinks properly that he should tell the king that he must not trust those who flatter him because they will bring him nothing but his end: And thou,too flatter him baceause they will bring his destructionnointed body to the cure/Of those Phisicians that first wounded thee:/A thousand flatterers sit within by crown,/Whose compass is no bigger than thy heay;(Act 2, scene I). Thanks the famous John of Gaunts discourse about royality we can hace an idea about what a model of noble patriote should be like.He sees his country as another Eden,demi-Paradise,fortress built by nature,precious stone set in the silver sea and he cant consider a happier land than his own.Another virtue is enlightened by his belief in God.The men of those time thought that God sent a special man to lead them,and so does John of Gaunt:this teeming wombs of royal kings,/Feard by their breed,and famous by their birth,/For Christian service and true chivalry,/As is the sepulchre,in stubborn Jewry,/Of the worlds ransom,blessed Marys Son;.With his last breath he gives another proof of love and honour for his country by saying that he would sacrifice anything for it,for the shame brought by the king Ah,would the scandal vanish with my life,/How happy yhen were my ensuing death!. On the other hand,a character that seems to degenarate is Henry Bolingbroke,son of John of Gaunt.At first he respects Richards desire,honours it,not even dearing to shorten his banishment,but laterhe seems to want his vengens baceause the injustice with which the king torched him.In consequence he stops being a true knight and he stands up to the king by coming back from exile for reaining his

father fortune,so he breaks the oath given being no longer loyal to Richard. Even if the men of those time consider that John of Gaunt doesnt make the right call and will be punished by his courage of replacing the king,I think that he made a great thing.He managed to heal the country of a superficial man that did nothing but consider his welfaire. King Richard did nothing else but stood up for his ambitions,and began to degenarate when he killed his uncle.He is the breaker of the code,he defies all the rules and ends in a chaotic state. He doesnt protect his familly and takes his uncles money after he dies because he had spent the countrys money on useless things and he doesnt consider that Henry deserves his heritage;also, he doesnt consider the piece of advise received from his uncle, to remember of his fathers wiseness and defies his familly,he fights against his brothers instead of fighting against the foreign invaders :But when he frownd,it was against the French,/And not against his friends*+/His lands were guilty of no kindereds blood,/But bloody with the enemies of his kin(Act 2, scene I) From my point of view,I think people are made in such a way that some have a stronger ability to be honourable and others manage to be conserned only by themselves.These are very important in following the code of honour in Richard the IInds time;even he himself didnt manage to preserve and escalade the greatness and virtues of ones soul.But he found out in the end that if you are not clever enough to follow some straight rules in this life you would not manage to preserve yourself only if u have money and power,but even these will be lost .

So the code of honour is not only a silent pact that enlightenes ones virtues,is the way one preserves himself and manage to deal with lifes punishments without leaving the good road in life.