It’s a good moment in history to reread John of Gaunt’s patriotic speech in Shakespeare’s Richard II, where England is depicted as a “the other Eden, demi-paradise” and a country envied by others. This lecture of the speech is performed by Dona Croll and can be found in the Monologue Library, a fantastic collection of theatrical speeches performed by renowned artists. Dona Croll was John of Gaunt in the Richard II presented in the Shakespeare’s Globe in 2019 with a company of women of colour. I would have loved to see that.
“England, bound in with the triumphant sea,
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds.
That England that was wont to conquer others
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.”