Source: "The State of Law in Richard II," Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 34, No.1, Spring, 1983, Pl" 5-17.

[In the essay that follows, Hamilton studies the concept if a "law centered kingship" in Richard II , suggesting that despite Richard's divine right to rule, he is not above the law Never theless, Hamilton demonstrates, in many ways Richard acts as if he is free from having to answer fur his own illegal action In conclusion. Hamilton observes that when Bolingbroke becomes king amber issue if kingship is raised, as Bolingbroke pos sesses only popular support, not the kgJ or divine right to rule]

Near the end of the speeches of warning and instruction that Gaunt delivers on his deathbed to the wayward Richard II, one encounters the passage,

Landlord of England an thou now, not king,   Thy state of law is bondslave to the law.
(II.i.113-14)

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