Original: Let not my cold words here accuse my zeal:
Modern: Don’t let my calm words make you think I’m not passionate about this:

Original: ‘Tis not the trial of a woman’s war,
Modern: This isn’t the kind of fight that can be settled by a woman’s quarrel,

Original: The bitter clamour of two eager tongues,
Modern: The angry shouting match between two loud mouths,

Original: Can arbitrate this cause betwixt us twain;
Modern: That can settle this dispute between the two of us;

Original: The blood is hot that must be cool’d for this:
Modern: Someone’s blood must be spilled to resolve this:

Original: Yet can I not of such tame patience boast
Modern: But I can’t claim to have such mild self-control

Original: As to be hush’d and nought at all to say:
Modern: That I can stay silent and say nothing at all:

Original: First, the fair reverence of your highness curbs me
Modern: First, my proper respect for your majesty holds me back

Original: From giving reins and spurs to my free speech;
Modern: From letting my words run wild and free;

Original: Which else would post until it had return’d
Modern: Otherwise my words would race until they had thrown back

Original: These terms of treason doubled down his throat.
Modern: These accusations of treason twice as hard down his throat.

Original: Setting aside his high blood’s royalty,
Modern: Putting aside his royal bloodline,

Original: And let him be no kinsman to my liege,
Modern: And forgetting that he’s related to my king,

Original: I do defy him, and I spit at him;
Modern: I challenge him, and I spit at him;

Original: Call him a slanderous coward and a villain:
Modern: I call him a lying coward and a villain:

Original: Which to maintain I would allow him odds,
Modern: And to prove it, I would even give him an advantage,

Original: And meet him, were I tied to run afoot
Modern: And I’d fight him even if I had to run on foot

Original: Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps,
Modern: All the way to the frozen mountain peaks of the Alps,

Original: Or any other ground inhabitable,
Modern: Or any other place where people can live,

Original: Where ever Englishman durst set his foot.
Modern: Wherever any Englishman has dared to step.

Original: Mean time let this defend my loyalty,
Modern: In the meantime, let this statement prove my loyalty,

Original: By all my hopes, most falsely doth he lie.
Modern: I swear on everything I hope for, he is absolutely lying.

In Act I, scene i of Richard II, King Richard II holds court to address a dispute between Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. Bolingbroke accuses Mowbray of treason, claiming that Mowbray has embezzled funds intended for the king’s soldiers and, more seriously, that he was responsible for the murder of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, who was the king’s uncle. Bolingbroke demands satisfaction through trial by combat, throwing down his gage as a challenge.

Mowbray vehemently denies the charges, particularly the accusation regarding Gloucester’s death, and accepts Bolingbroke’s challenge by throwing down his own gage. Despite King Richard’s attempts to reconcile the two nobles and avoid the combat, both men remain resolute in their positions and refuse to be pacified. The king, unable to mediate a peaceful resolution, reluctantly agrees to allow the trial by combat to proceed, setting the date for the contest at Coventry. The scene establishes the central conflict that will drive much of the play’s early action, as the two powerful nobles prepare for their fateful encounter.

Richard II opens with King Richard presiding over a dispute between Henry Bolingbroke (John of Gaunt’s son) and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. Both men accuse each other of treason, and when Richard cannot reconcile them, he arranges a trial by combat. However, just as the combat is about to begin, Richard stops the fight and banishes both men from England - Mowbray for life and Bolingbroke for six years, later reduced to four.

When John of Gaunt falls ill and dies, Richard seizes his lands and wealth to fund his wars in Ireland, effectively disinheriting Bolingbroke. This act alienates the nobility, who fear their own inheritances are now at risk. While Richard departs for his Irish campaign, Bolingbroke returns from exile with an army, ostensibly to reclaim his rightful inheritance. He quickly gains support from discontented nobles, including the Duke of York, who was left as regent in Richard’s absence.

Richard returns from Ireland to find his support has collapsed and his army has dispersed. After a series of encounters, including a pivotal scene at Flint Castle where Richard realizes his situation is hopeless, he agrees to abdicate. In a formal ceremony at Westminster, Richard hands over his crown to Bolingbroke, who becomes King Henry IV. Richard is imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, where he is eventually murdered by Sir Pierce Exton, who believes he is carrying out Henry’s wishes. The play ends with Henry expressing regret over Richard’s death and vowing to journey to the Holy Land to atone for his indirect role in the former king’s murder.