Although the powerful character of the king is almost always evident in the characters of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V, audiences are sometimes presented with the inner workings discovered in the deep recesses of the mind of every monarch. The reader and ticket payer is immediately amazed by Henry Bolingbroke's warrior audacity, but is then made aware of his more “feminine” methods of calculation as a manipulative individual. In contrast, the audience perceives Richard II as proudly claiming to be the divinely sanctioned emperor, but when he is alone and deposed, he becomes despondent and pities his status as king. In line with his two predecessors, Henry V also appears as two different people depending on the situations; at the same time Harry is the consummate warrior-aristocrat, but when alone he desires only the simple life of a commoner. In the plays Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, the notion of “monarchical reflexivity” plays a fundamental role in how each king is viewed by his subjects and, extratextually, by his audience. It would be easy for some to declare Richard II a feeble fool, too caught up in his own desperation to actually facilitate an escape or defense, and to regard him as an aberration of English kingship; in reality, however, his weakness is indicative of a more fascinating relationship between man and his role as king. It also turns out that the next two rulers, Henry IV and Harry, both find within themselves aspects of a seemingly conflicting dichotomy between mortal man and immortal notions of kingship. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Richard II and Henry V outwardly seem, according to their behavior and achievements as kings, almost opposite. Henry V is a cunning warrior and diplomat: he is the valiant knight par excellence, while Richard II is a stealthy backstabber. As a character in the play, it would be quite remiss to make any comparisons between the two, but the audience is fortunate to know that, in fact, the two are more closely related than one would initially think. While Richard II provides Bolingbroke with the crown in Richard II, he complains about his position as a newly deposed monarch and typically complains. Surprisingly, though, it offers no acts of defiance; here Richard does nothing that would make the audience think he still wanted to be king. Indeed, his speech about Bolingbroke's ironic coronation implies that being a king promises nothing but emptiness. Richard says, “Now this golden crown is like a deep well/ Which must fill two buckets with each other,” that is, by lowering one king, another king will be raised to the monarchical position (4.1.174-5 ). He goes on to say, however, that “The void ever dances in the air,/ The other down, invisible and full of water” (4.1.176-7). According to Richard, when a man goes deeper into the well, another gets up and sits on top; curiously, however, it is the emptiest bucket that will ultimately reach this superior position. It seems to the reader that being crowned king will not manifest all one's greatest joys and desires; in fact, Richard is saying the opposite. In contrast to the empty role of king, as a deposed monarch he will be “full of tears” and, ironically, seems proud that he can still remain “king of those” (4.1.178, 183). Later in the scene Richard chooses to describe his regal effects in rather surprising terms. He leaves the “heavy burden from my head” along with the “unwieldy scepter” to Bolingbroke instead of trying to preserve the ornaments for himself (4.1.194, 195). It's counterintuitive for audiences to see a king so lightly physically dethroned and not at least be disgusted by it; Shakespeare certainlyhe realizes this and is counting on his audience to reflect after the show is over. Perhaps, since Richard has not fought, he truly finds kingship empty and is completely resigned to rejecting it. In a scene that curiously reflects the feelings represented by the dethroned Richard II, Henry V's audience is introduced to Harry who, echoing his predecessor, emphasizes the hollowness of being king. Harry, disguised as a common soldier under Erpingham's cloak, declares to John Bates “I think the king is but a man, as am I. The violet smells the same to him as it does to me; the element shows itself to him as to me” (4.1.99-100). The following discussion has two purposes; firstly it provides the audience with a funny trick that the King is playing on his soldiers, secondly, more importantly, it acts as a mirror of Harry's mind. For once he doesn't have to appear brave, strong or cunning, he can simply say what he thinks. This part of the text distinguishes Harry from his role as leader of Britain and casts a different light on this character as "but a man" (4.1.102). Just as Richard II finds his crown heavy and scepter “unwieldy,” so too Harry finds the pomp and ceremony of kingship suffocating. He declares that a King's true emotions must be barred and stifled, because although he feels fear, the King cannot "possess it with any appearance of fear, lest by displaying it he should discourage his army" (4.1.106-8). Later in the same scene, the audience is presented with the most obvious example of royal dissatisfaction. When one might say that Richard's apparent distaste for being a monarch stems from the unpleasant circumstances surrounding the end of his reign, one cannot simply dismiss Henry V's doubts. After the soldiers leave him, Harry continues to question the role and responsibility of the king and asks "Of what infinite sorrow / Must kings neglect what private individuals enjoy?" (4.1.219-20). He decides that kings have the same depressing fate as ordinary men, except for the “idol ceremony” (4.1.222). The King wonders what this ceremony is for when he "suffers more / With mortal pains than thy worshippers" (4.1.223-4). Toward the end of his speech, Harry declares that neither “the balm, the scepter and the ball,” nor “the wave of pageantry” or “the thrice wondrous ceremony” could grant the King the ability to “sleep as soundly as the miserable slave” (4.1.242, 246, 148, 250). Harry appears to be echoing the views expressed by his predecessor Richard II at, strangely, completely opposite times in their reign. Harry, on the eve of a great military victory, is lamenting his position as an unrivaled conqueror while Richard II mourns the futility of kingship upon his deposition. Although both Richard II and Harry have particularly serious doubts about the role and value of the English king, Henry Bolingbroke presents a different side of the king versus man dichotomy. Although his son derides the royal position as simply a man dressed with ceremony and pomp, Henry IV believes that this is actually what makes kingship so admirable. As the two converse about his inevitable ascension to the English throne midway through Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV broaches the topic of his relationship with his subjects. Although Harry is displeased with the ceremony and separation of the mortal human and the English sovereign's immortal notion of divine right, it is in this dichotomy that Bolingbroke revels. He despises Richard II for allowing himself to become "So commonplace in men's eyes, / So stale and cheap for vulgar company" (3.2.41-2). Henry IV, on the other hand, wishes to be amazed "like a comet", which with "rare" ceremonies.