Sometimes the people who end up inheriting leadership positions should have never been obliged to take that role in the first place. Unfortunately, this was not the case in England in the later part of the fourteenth century. It was a country that was considered to be like the Garden of Eden, but it ended up resembling more like the depths of hades. England was a country that was deemed perfect by one leader, chosen from God, most followers thought. King Richard II took his role as King of England and betrayed his family, his people, and his country. The serenity, the beauty, and the peace that once filled England were no longer there.
Serenity
Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden, how dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing news? What Eve, what serpent, hath suggested thee to make a second fall of cursed man? Why dost thou say King Richard is deposed? Darest thou, thou little better thing than earth, divine his downfall? Say, where, when, and how, camest thou by this ill tidings? Speak, thou wretch. (3.4. 73-80). In this particular scene the Queen is complaining about King Richard being taken off the thrown. The main idea is that opposing a king is a sin, which means there are going to be some issues that will face England head on. Adam and Eve's world were ultimately changed forever when they blew it by giving in to temptation, which this is a shear metaphor taken from the bible. The fact of the matter is that King Richard II was not doing anything to improve England and solely relying of his belief of the grace of God to cast him into his own shadow, but ultimately England struck back and God granted the country its own serenity.
Beauty
This England has been ruined by Richard, who reduces it to a single image, a farm leased out for his own convenience. (A garden is symbolic; a farm is merely practical.) Yet in the grammar of the speech the ideas are not related quite as we might have expected. Gaunt does not say England was a royal throne of kings but is now leased out like a tenement; he says, this royal throne of kings is now leased out. A few lines later, he will contrast past and present: (Leggatt, 1989) ‘That England that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself’ (2.1. 65–6). The fact of the matter is that Gaunt sees the mistakes that Richard is making countless times and too he doesn’t want to see his country undergo any more turmoil than it has already endured. He is in his age and is limited with his resources on what he can do. The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone. (Vivian 2010)
Peace
John Gaunt returned to England in 1389, was made duke of Aquitaine, and helped to restore peace between Richard II and the hostile barons led by Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester. (John of Gaunt 2015) Richard II exercises his royal privilege, cutting feuding short, but in doing so he in fact legitimizes an argument that might otherwise have exhausted itself. For Richard it ceases to matter, if indeed it ever did, who is innocent or guilty; his solution, after aborting the duel, is to exile both men without ever clarifying their offense. He offers a strange speech that personifies a sleepy Peace, rudely awakened by the “rival-hating envy” (1.3.131) of two men with too many “sky-aspiring and ambitious thoughts” (Hoffman, 2009)
Conclusion
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land, dear for her reputation through the world, is now leased out, I die pronouncing it, like to a tenement or pelting farm (2.1.57-60). The farm of practicality merely dwindles in the wind. The sorrow has filled the night air, but England will once again be a great land. The serenity of ones Eden, the beauty of one’s soul, and the peace of ones rivalry will soon apprehend all of us into victory once again. We have seen how this powerful quote in the play has taught us so much about this great land and how sometimes poor leadership mixed with cruel intentions can make it seem to disappear in an instance into the great abyss.