‘This England’

John of Gaunt watches in despair as his country is milked for its wealth and shared out among the king’s favourites.

set in 1399

Introduction

It is 1399, and for two years King Richard II has (in addition to legalised murder) been levying extortionate rents on the property of his opponents, and handing out grace-and-favour homes to his cronies. As John of Gaunt lies dying, he charges his nephew with being ‘landlord of England, not king’.

by William Shakespeare 1564-1616

abridged

THIS throne of kings, this sceptr’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm:*

England, bound in with the triumphant sea
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds:
That England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.

by William Shakespeare 1564-1616

abridged

Abridged from ‘Richard II’ (Act II, Scene 1), by William Shakespeare.

‘Pelting’ in this case is an adjective with a meaning similar to ‘paltry, mean’.

Précis

As John of Gaunt comes to his last hours, he laments the way his nephew, King Richard II, is cynically exploiting the country he loves for personal gain and ambition. For John, Richard is humiliating an honourable people deserving of respect, and squandering advantages, of history and of geography, with which few other Kings are blessed.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

Why does John of Gaunt speak of England as ‘this seat of Mars’?

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

The sea defends Britain from infection. It defends Britain from invasion.