Richard II is obviously a play about power and the way a monarch uses his or her power. It is power that is derived from a variety of sources: economic, political, traditional, moral, and personal. Although I believe that the economic power of Richard is considerable, most critics would see political power as a central theme of this play.

Richard is, in modern terms, the CEO of England. He came early to the job when his father died, and although he had the guidance of a regent (John of Gaunt) during the early years, in his twenties he took control himself. It has not worked out.; Even though Richard is the largest stock holder in the company and has a hand picked board of directors, bad policies and bad decisions have finally caught up with him. Other major stock holders revolt. They force a proxy fight over a stockholder resolution to strip the CEO of many of his powers, and they want to put one of their own, Henry Bolingbroke on the Board of Directors. Richard has been away fighting a take over merger from a rival company which further damaged England's balance sheet. When he gets back to company headquarters, he discovers that the proxy fight is out of hand; and even with his vast number of shares equaling nearly 25% of all those outstanding, he is in dire danger of losing the fight. Always moody and unpredictable, Richard gives up and steps down as CEO even before the proxies have been counted. ...