III. ii. 176. subjected. Used with a play on the relation between 'king' and 'subject,' and the literal Latin sense of 'thrown down.'
III. ii. 209. Flint Castle. In North Wales, across the estuary of the Dee from Chester. Richard actually went to Conway Castle.
III. iii. 15, 17. Mistake. A play on words; besides echoing 'taking' (l. 14) and 'take' (l. 16), Bolingbroke means 'take not amiss,' and York, 'make no error about the heavens' being, etc.'
III. iii. 40. banishment repeal'd. A Latin construction, equivalent to 'repeal of my banishment.'
III. iii. 147–152. Richard offers to exchange the insignia of a king for those of a hermit or pilgrim.
III. iii. 178. Phaethon. In classical myth, a youth who presumed to drive the chariot of the Sun, but was unable to control the horses. The 'unruly jades' ran away with him, scorching the earth and dashing him to his death.
III. iv. 3–5. bowls, rubs, bias. Bowls is an ancient game played on a smooth oblong green about forty yards long, with one small ball called the 'jack' and twelve large heavy ones called 'bowls.' The jack is thrown out as a mark, and the object of the game is for one side to have one of its bowls nearest the jack at the end of the bout. 'Bias' denotes the intentional one-sidedness of the bowl, caused nowadays by shaving off one side, and formerly by inserting a piece of lead in one part of the circumference. 'Rub' is the name given to any natural obstruction or inequality in the green.
III. iv. 7, 8. measure. A play on three meanings of the word: (1) 'time to music'; (2) 'proportion or moderation'; (3) 'a stately dance.'
III. iv. 22. And I could sing, etc. The Queen apparently means, 'Weeping can do me no good; if my troubles were as light as that, I could sing.'
