《理查二世》是英国剧作家威廉·莎士比亚创作的戏剧，是一部历史剧。该剧首版于1597年。
该剧讲述了一个不称职的国王的故事，以及他第一次面临人的身份时的极大痛苦。《理查二世》也是关于亨利·波林勃洛克的故事，他攫取了王冠因而不再清白。他以为，鉴于理查犯有该隐之罪，所以自己可以净化被理查玷污的王座。但是，为了建立他的统治，他不得不犯理查同样的罪。他并未变成神，却变成一个谋杀者。他这个国王因而再也不可能是理查意义上的国王。
剧中的理查二世一开始便以独断专行、为所欲为的君主形象出现：放逐莫布雷和博林布罗克；对博林布罗克的父亲约翰·刚特十分无礼；对刚特的劝告置若罔闻；强行没收了刚特家庭的财产；永远剥夺博林布罗克的种种权利；对爱尔兰穷兵黩武……他的种种倒行逆施使他的王权失去平衡。在他出征爱尔兰期间，博林布罗克从流放地返回英国，集中势力，用武力讨伐理查二世，声称要回他的继承权。压力之下，理查二世被迫交出王位。理查二世被囚禁在庞弗雷特监狱，其王后被流放法国。理查二世在牢中遇害前以正统王位继承人的身份，讲了许多精彩的话，成为一个令人同情的形象。博林布罗克继位后称为亨利四世，但终因理查二世被害和他的篡位而深感内疚，虽然否认了他对理查二世被谋杀的罪责，却又计划到圣地去朝拜，以求得心理平衡。
莎士比亚生当伊丽莎白女王（1558—1603在位）时代。伊丽莎白朝处于英国第一次产业革命（1540—1640）的中期。由于统一的民族国家在亨利八世时已建立，所以伊丽莎白朝王权巩固，经济繁荣。加之她处事审慎，提出“和睦”、“团结”的口号，她得到了国人的认可，成为英国史上的一代明君。但史书对她评价说：“伊丽莎白死后名声大振，远远超过了她的实际成就。显然，对她的宣扬，对光荣的崇拜、她的长寿、与莎士比亚时代的巧合以及幸运地击败无敌舰队使我们产生的错觉，以致我们在放声赞叹的时候忘掉了这样简单的现实，即她不动声色使英国陷入了一种无法控制的状态之中。”这段评论给读者提供了两条信息：一是莎士比亚与伊丽莎白朝基本上是合拍的；二是伊丽莎白统治下的英国，社会矛盾形相毕露，社会局势已经无法控制。女王权力受到了以玛丽（女王姑母面上的表侄女）为首的天主教核心势力的有力挑战，以致女王在1587年极不情愿地将她处死。在经济生活领域，随着资本原始积累加速，居民的贫富差距日益拉大了，伦敦街头流民成群，郊区每天都有人被处绞刑。这些都为社会骚乱、政局动荡预先埋下了火种。莎士比亚回眸理查二世的历史，发现现实和历史颇有相似之处，于是创作了历史剧《理查二世》，以讽喻当朝，警示世人。
莎士比亚的《理查二世》主要取材于拉斐尔·霍林舍德的《英格兰纪事》。莎翁在选材上充分注意到博林布鲁克篡取理查二世的王位这一事实，并且在《亨利五世》、《亨利六世》上、中、下以及《理查三世》等一系列的历史剧中充分发挥和利用，成功地描写了约克和兰开斯特两家皇室的争斗与和解。
莎士比亚的《理查二世》大约写于1595年，首印于1597年，但伊丽莎自在位期间的两次重印却删去了理查王被迫交出王位的情节。1601年爱塞克斯伯爵起兵反对伊丽莎白一世时，他的同谋们专门上演了这个长期不演的历史剧，希望以此唤起公众的支持。
Richard II is a historical play created by the British playwright William Shakespeare. The first edition of the play was in 1597.

The drama tells the story of an incompetent king and the great pain he experiences when facing his human identity for the first time. Richard II is also a story about Henry Polingblock, who seized the crown and is no longer innocent. He thought that since Richard had committed Cain’s crime, he could purify the throne that had been defiled by Richard. However, in order to establish his rule, he had to commit the same crime as Richard. He did not become a god, but he became a murderer. He could no longer be a king in Richard’s sense.

At the beginning, Richard II in the play appears as a dictatorial and arbitrary monarch: exiling Mobrey and Bollinger Brock; Very disrespectful to Bollinger Brock’s father, John Gunter; Ignoring Gunter’s advice; Forcibly confiscating the property of the Gunt family; Forever depriving Bollinger Brock of all his rights; Militarism against Ireland… His various retrograde actions caused his royal power to lose balance. During his expedition to Ireland, Bollinger Brock returned to England from exile and concentrated his forces to use force against Richard II, claiming to reclaim his inheritance rights. Under pressure, Richard II was forced to surrender the throne. Richard II was imprisoned in Pomfret Prison, and his queen was exiled to France. Before Richard II was killed in prison, he spoke many wonderful words as the heir to the legitimate throne, becoming a sympathetic figure. Bollinger Brock, who succeeded to the throne and became Henry IV, felt deeply guilty for the murder of Richard II and his usurpation. Although he denied his responsibility for the murder of Richard II, he planned to visit the Holy Land to seek psychological balance.

Shakespeare was born during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). The Elizabeth dynasty was in the middle of the first industrial revolution in England (1540-1640). Due to the establishment of a unified nation-state under Henry VIII, the monarchy of Elizabeth was consolidated and the economy prospered. In addition, with her cautious handling of affairs and the slogan of “harmony” and “unity”, she gained recognition from the Chinese people and became a wise monarch in British history. But the historical book commented on her: “Elizabeth’s fame greatly increased after her death, far exceeding her actual achievements. Obviously, the promotion of her, the worship of glory, her longevity, coincidences with Shakespeare’s era, and the illusion of fortunate defeat of the Invincible Fleet caused us to forget the simple reality that her silence plunged Britain into an uncontrollable state when we exclaimed This comment provides readers with two pieces of information: firstly, Shakespeare and Elizabeth are basically in sync; The second is England under Elizabeth’s rule, where social contradictions were exposed and the social situation was beyond control. The Queen’s power was strongly challenged by the Catholic core forces led by Mary (the niece in front of the Queen’s aunt), resulting in her being reluctantly executed in 1587. In the field of economic life, with the acceleration of primitive accumulation of capital, the gap between the rich and the poor of residents is widening. There are groups of refugees on the streets of London, and people are hanged every day in the suburbs. These have laid the groundwork for social unrest and political instability. Shakespeare looked back at the history of Richard II and found that there were similarities between reality and history. Therefore, he created the historical drama “Richard II” to satirize the dynasty and warn the world.

Shakespeare’s “Richard II” is mainly based on Raphael Hollinghead’s “Chronicles of England”. Shakespeare fully paid attention to the fact that Bollinger Brooke usurped the throne of Richard II in his selection of materials, and made full use of it in a series of historical plays such as “Henry V”, “Henry VI”, “middle, bottom,” and “Richard III”, successfully depicting the struggle and reconciliation between the two royal families of York and Lancaster.

Shakespeare’s “Richard II” was written around 1595 and first printed in 1597, but two reprints during Elizabeth’s reign removed the plot of King Richard being forced to relinquish the throne. When the Earl of Essex rose up in 1601 to oppose Elizabeth I, his accomplices staged this long-awaited historical drama in the hope of arousing public support.

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