1
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  (Narrator) In some sense it could   
 be said that the real hero of Richard
  II is England.

2
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  Patriotism is an important aspect   
 of the play.

3
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  It's a theme that can be brought   
 out at various points and through
  various characters.

4
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  (Jeremy Irons) I think that the   
 deep abiding love for England is
  something that was…

5
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  ..very important to Shakespeare   
 and very important to Richard.

6
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  How much the historical Richard   
 loved it I'm not sure, but I mean we have the
  Gaunt speech,

7
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  "great love of the country", "this  
  jewel set in the silvered sea", or
  whatever it is,

8
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  and I think it went further with   
 Richard because not only was the
  country his…

9
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  ..and the nettles and adders, that  
  was his garden if you like,

10
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  this "Eden, this demi paradise",   
 but the sun was his image,

11
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  I mean the image he constantly   
 said "I am the sun", I mean "I dazzle
  like the sun".

12
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  And God who he saw as being there   
 or wherever, was the man who placed him in
  that position,

13
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  so he was just part of that whole  
 … that whole world – an integral part…

14
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  ..and I think that gave him great   
 grounding and great strength.

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  (David Giles) I think that when   
 Richard comes back from Ireland and
  kisses the ground,

16
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  that it is in a way a marvellously  
  easy patriotic gesture.

17
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  I think he means it at the time   
 but that it is much more…

18
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  ..Richard the actor and Richard   
 the poet than Richard the patriot…

19
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  ..who is speaking at that moment.

20
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  I really do think that Richard   
 means it at that moment…

21
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  ..but I wouldn't say it was a   
 great patriotic gesture.

22
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  (Aumerle) How brooks your grace   
 the air after your late tossing on the
  breaking seas?

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  (Richard) Needs must I like it   
 well. I weep for joy to stand upon my
  kingdom once again.

24
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  Dear earth, I do salute thee with   
 my hand,

25
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  though rebels wound thee with   
 their horses' hooves.

26
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  As a long-parted mother with her   
 child plays fondly with her tears and
  smiles in meeting.

27
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  So weeping, smiling, greet I thee  
 , my earth, and do thee favours with my
  royal hands.

28
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  (David Giles) I don't think that   
 either Bolingbroke or Richard are
  particular patriots.

29
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  I think the patriot in the play is  
  John of Gaunt.

30
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  And Shakespeare makes this very   
 clear by the anthology ridden speech…

31
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  ..which is so difficult to get   
 past but which is a wonderful
  piece of writing.

32
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  I think Richard is - thinks about   
 England far too much as his own sort
  of plaything…

33
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  ..to be really a patriot and I   
 think Bolingbroke is full of
  self-interest...

34
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  and that the interesting thing is   
 that Gaunt is the true patriot
  in the play.

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  (Gaunt) This royal throne of kings  
 , this sceptred isle.

36
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  This earth of majesty, this seat   
 of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise.

37
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  This fortress built by Nature for   
 herself against infection and the
  hand of war.

38
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  This happy breed of men, this   
 little world.

39
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  This precious stone set in the   
 silver sea which serves it in the office
  of a wall...

40
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  ..or as a moat defensive to one   
 house against the envy of less
  happier lands.

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  This blessed plot, this earth,   
 this realm, this England,

42
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  this nurse, this teeming womb of   
 royal kings…

43
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  ..feared by their breed and famous  
  by their birth,

44
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  renowned for their deeds as far   
 from home for Christian service and
  true chivalry…

45
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  ..as is the sepulchre in stubborn   
 Jewry of the world's ransom,
  blessed Mary's son.

46
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  This land of such dear souls, this  
  dear, dear land,

47
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  dear for her reputation through   
 the world is now leased out, I die
  pronouncing it.

48
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  Like to a tenement or pelting farm  
  England, bound in with the
  triumphant sea…

49
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  ..whose rocky shore beats back the  
  envious siege of watery Neptune…

50
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  ..is now bound in with shame! With  
  inky blots and rotten parchment bonds.

51
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  That England that was wont to   
 conquer others hath made a shameful
  conquest of itself.

52
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  Ah, would the scandal vanish with   
 my life, how happy then were my
  ensuing death!