The Crown and Luck
When Richard starts to grasp that Bolingbroke has a real chance of taking the throne, he compares his crown to a well that can favor either man, saying, "Now is this golden crown like a deep well / That owes two buckets, filling one another, / The emptier ever dancing in the air, / The other down, unseen and full of water" (4.1). In this simile, Richard suggests that the crown can "fill" one man's "bucket," but only at the expense of the other. In this way, Richard links his own sense of luck with Bolingbroke's and emphasizes how only one of them can prevail in the end.
Gaunt's Death
When Northumberland reflects on Gaunt's death, he says, "His tongue is now a stringless instrument; / Words, life and all old Lancaster hath spent" (2.1). Here, Northumberland uses a metaphor to suggest that language and speech are directly connected to life. Calling Gaunt's tongue a "stringless instrument" emphasizes his now-silent and ineffective state, and Northumberland implies that by attempting to speak the truth, Gaunt ended his own life.
The Falling Sun
When Bolingbroke invades England and spies Richard on the castle walls, he comments, "See, see, King Richard doth himself appear, / As doth the blushing discontented sun / From out the fiery portal of the east, / When he perceives the envious clouds are bent / To dim his glory" (3.3). Here, Bolingbroke uses a simile to compare Richard to a sun whose light is about to be diffused by clouds, suggesting that Bolingbroke's army is on the verge of invasion and Richard on the verge of being deposed.
Judases
When Richard perceives that he has been betrayed, he exclaims, "Three Judases, each one thrice worse than Judas!" (3.2). Here, Richard uses a metaphor to compare Bushy, Bagot, and Green to Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Of course, in so doing, Richard is comparing himself to Christ, emphasizing his skewed vision of his power and importance.
Phaeton
When Richard loses his crown to Bolingbroke, he laments the ordeal, saying, "Down, down I come; like glistering Phaethon, / Wanting the manage of unruly jades" (3.3). In this simile, Richard compares himself to Phaeton – the ancient Greek mythological figure who drive the sun god's chariot and was shot out of the sky by Zeus. Through this comparison, Richard attempts to communicate how dramatic and severe his loss of the crown is, though the actual events were free of violence and another testament to Richard's passive nature.
