The Relationship Between Fathers and Sons in Shakespeare

A father’s goal is for his son to surpass him or simply carry on the honor of the family name. To try and avoid any mishaps, fathers advise their sons using the experience they have gained throughout their own lifetimes.

Gaunt delivers a speech on his death bed with the hope of convincing Richard to change his ways; York then also tries to reason with the King.

In Henry IV, it is Bolingbroke himself that bestows guidance upon his estranged son, Prince Henry, who seems to prefer the company of drunks and thieves to those in the court. His speech, delivered after he finds out about the Percy family rebellion, is intended to get his son to assume his responsibilities in a time of great need.

In both plays, the differences between the speeches and how they were received affected the outcome of the story; Nevertheless, the son’s character and what they chose to do with the advice makes an even bigger difference.

In Act 2 Scene 1 Richard is on his way to visit his dying uncle, Gaunt. John of Gaunt thinks he can use his condition to his advantage and give his nephew King Richard II advice he will listen to. Gaunt then delivers one of the most famous speeches in the play, foretelling Richard’s demise due to the mistakes he had made:

And thus expiring do foretell of him, his rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last,/ For violent fires soon burn out themselves; /Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short; /He tires at betimes that spurs too fast betimes; /With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder: /Light Vanity, insatiate cormorant,/ Consuming means, soon preys upon itself (2.1.32-37).

Gaunt is alluding to Richard’s controversial war with Ireland, his greed and vanity that are perpetuated by his many flatterers. Gaunt then tells of his love of England, using the repetition of the word “this” to grab your attention, as well as drive his point home. He describes England as a land fit for kings and of the country’s victories in battle by referring to the Roman god of war, “This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars (2.1.41).” Gaunt even goes as far as to compare England to the biblical garden of Eden, “This other Eden, demi-paradise” (2.1.42). He goes on to tout the island’s fortress like qualities, protecting England from both “infection and the hand of war” (2.1.44). But those very same waters that protect England like a moat does a castle contain the shame of what Richard has done. Richard has allowed England to be rented out “like a tenement or pelting farm (2.1.60)” referring to Richard’s sale of blank charters, which allowed tax collectors to collect however much they wanted on an individual basis. Gaunt refers to the blank charters again, “with inky blots and rotten parchment bonds (2.1.64)” and needless war Richard has involved England in, “That England, that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself” (2.1.65-66). Gaunt predicted that England’s own internal problems would lead to its demise.

That particular speech was a complaint given to Richard’s other uncle, York, and not the King himself. York tells him to tone it down for the King, “For young colts being raged do rage the more (2.1.69-70).” Considering the fact that Gaunt is on his death bed, he need not fear any repercussions from Richard, so he chooses not to heed York’s warning.

When Richard arrives Gaunt disregards what York told him about toning things down and foretells the King’s death. Richard inquires as to why a man on his own deathbed feels this way. Because Gaunt is ill himself, he feels as though he can see the ill in Richard. As Gaunt lies in his own deathbed, so too does Richard, Gaunt predicts the death of Richard in his own land, with his reputation in the gutter, “They death-bed is no lesser than thy land, wherein thou liest in reputation sick (2.1.95-96).” Gaunt sees Richard as careless, seeking refuge in the very people that put him in this predicament in the first place, his flatterers. His flatterers and close friends were the reason Richard was overtaxing his own people and taking away the birth rights of his nobles. He went against a commonly accepted tradition of sons inheriting their father’s land and title, the very tradition that was the source of his own power, in order to treat these flatterers lavishly. A thousand flatterers are about, all leading him astray. He then goes on to say that Richard's grandfather, Edward III, would have deposed him before he had possessed the throne, but he is now going to depose himself. Gaunt then brings up Richard renting out England to foreigners saying “Landlord of England art thou now, not king” (2.1.113). Richard then cuts him off mid sentence, “A lunatic and lean-witted fool, /presuming on an ague’s privilege, /Darest with thy frozen admonition /make pale our cheek, chasing royal blood /with fury from his native residence” (2.1.115-118). This interjection shows that Richard has no love or respect for his uncle, and shows that he has no intention of listening to what he has to say, despite him being on his deathbed. The fact that Richard says he is using his “ague’s privilege” in order to say these things means that their relationship is clearly strained. Richard does not want to hear any criticism about how he manages the country. Gaunt only wished to give Richard advice based on his life experience, he had seen the rule of Edward III and how clearly it differed from the current situation and wanted England to return to its former glory.