NORTHUMBERLAND Now, afore God, ’tis shame such wrongs are borne
In him, a royal prince, and many more
Of royal blood in this declining land.
The King is not himself, but basely led
By flatterers; and what they will inform
Merely in hate ’gainst any of us all,
That will the King severely prosecute
’Gainst us, our lives, our children and our heirs. (2.1.238-245)
Northumberland has decided that he can trust Ross and Willoughby, and he now (mostly) decides to speak freely, and in pointed terms. It is a shame (and, more accurately, shameful, a disgrace) that such wrongs are borne in him, a royal prince—and it’s Bolingbroke to whom he refers, like the King a grandson of Edward III. That dynastic identity, that claim is put into words: Bolingbroke is of royal blood. What’s more, there are others of royal blood who are wronged or feel hard done by in this declining land, Northumberland’s phrasing echoing Gaunt’s elegy for this, this, this England with which the scene began, and so perhaps allying him and what he has to say with that authoritative, compelling, urgent voice. (It’s still the same scene.) A land, a nation in decline: this is a general crisis, something must be done. Then he pulls back a little: the King is not himself, it’s not all down to him, it’s not all his fault, perhaps (but we’ve just seen what Richard is capable of). He’s basely led by flatterers: this is a conventional way of framing an accusation of corruption or misrule against a monarch, and indeed the flatterers, Bushy, Bagot, and Green have been all too visible already—but of course it makes Richard seem weak, easily swayed, a trade-off in backing away from suggesting that he is responsible, through mismanagement or malice, for everything that’s going wrong. (He doesn’t look good either way, and it’s still ultimately his fault.) Moreover, those flatterers are the ones we need to be careful of; they hate us, and if they get it into their heads, for whatever reason, to inform the King against us (one might say, brief the King; there’s an element of office politics here) then he’ll do what they say. He’ll pursue us savagely, severely prosecute, really go after us—and not just us, but our children, and our heirs. (Just as Richard has punished Gaunt and Bolingbroke.) Our lives will be—are—at stake.
