Richard II Act III scene 4

Richard II Act III scene iv

Summary

While Richard, Bolingbroke, and their respective allies have been having their fateful encounters in the west of England and in Wales Queen Isabel has been staying at the house of the Duke of York (at Langley, not far from London). Although she has not yet hear the news of Richard's capture by Bolingbroke, sadness and foreboding weigh very heavily upon her. As she walks in the Duke's garden with her waiting-women, they try to cheer her up by suggesting of games, singing, dancing, and storytelling. The Queen rejects all these ideas, saying that making any attempt to forget her grief would only add to it. 

An aged gardener and his assitant enter the garden to tend to some of the plants. At the Queen's suggestion, she and her ladies conceal themselves in the shadow of a grove to overhear what the men will discuss. SHe has noticed that the common folk have been discussing affairs of state, as if expecting an imminent change in the government. 

Gardening Metaphors

This apparently small and insignificant scene carries great metaphorical importance and has interested critics for a long time. Critic Marjorie Garber refers to scenes like this as "window scenes" that give us a glimpse, as through a half-opened window in the street, into the minds and thoughts of everyday people. Commoners usually get short shrift in plays about kings and noblemen; here, we see into the minds of the skilled labourers who maintain the grounds of the Duke of York's palace--a far cry from the aristocracy…