atone for the wrongs he had done against the person of Richard . These two lines at the beginning establish and portend what will come next and to the end of not only this particular play but also the rest of the cycle : an ongoing struggle over Richard ’ s heritage .
On the other hand , when the Percys , King Henry ’ s former allies and adversaries-to-be , talk among themselves while resentful of Henry ’ s unfair treatment of them , they draw upon the residues of the past to counter Henry : they intend to make king Edmund Mortimer ( Roger ’ s son ), Earl of March , whom Richard had proclaimed his heir-presumptive in case he died childless . Therefore , Mortimer is supposed by law – the very law that was in practice during Richard ’ s reign – to become Richard ’ s legitimate successor . By raising the political chances of Mortimer , the Percys in fact intend to re-attain their own glorious past . Thus , Earl of Worcester ( of the Percys ) lays out a plan for the future and expresses a grievance of the past that will continue to unfold and be reiterated throughout not only this play but also the whole cycle :
And ‘ tis no little reason bids us speed , To save our heads by raising of a head ; For , bear ourselves as even as we can , The king will always think him in our debt , And think we think ourselves unsatisfied , Till he hath found a time to pay us home : And see already how he doth begin To make us strangers to his looks of love . ( Act 1 , Scene 3 )
Interestingly , in Act 3 , Scene 1 we can see another aspect of the sociopolitical and cultural continuance of the
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