Why is the garden scene included in Shakespeare's Richard II? How does this contribute to the flow and overall development of the piece? The garden scene (Act III, Scene IV) is an important and crucial moment, providing plot updating, allegory, exposition, and contrasts between characters. The garden scene is important for several reasons. First, it occurs between two scenes in which Richard, Bolingbroke, and others are present, but between which some time has passed. This involves a costume change, and this little scene provides just such an opportunity. But that's far from the full measure of the scene's value. In addition to its practical necessity, it also provides a much-needed respite from the ever-increasing tension of the piece; we are allowed to wander the royal gardens for a while before diving back into the action. We observe, for most of the scene, two humble gardeners, welcome company after three acts of nothing but kings and queens, lords and ladies, dukes and duchesses; Particularly for all the people watching the play in 1597, it was a pause for thought and storytelling. Stage gardeners not only provide menial services such as tying the royal 'abricocks', but are in fact far more valuable to them. the audience in their role as allegorical troubadours, providing a colorful and effective update of the plot thus far. This is all the more delicious because such a colorful metaphorical speech is unexpected; the queen has already announced to her ladies-in-waiting that the two men would be sure to "talk about state, because everyone does it / Against a change", (27-28) but our expectation, if we are not familiar with the play is to hear low and prosaic remarks about politics... in the middle of the newspaper... Nature was much more a facet of the lives of English men and women 400 years ago, it exuded a feeling of completeness. and order. Shakespeare often associated the violation of order within the realm of kings and kingdoms with a congruent dissolution of order in nature. In the garden scene, although no horses turn and devour each other, no hurricane blows, the basic concept of an interconnectedness between humanity and nature is used skillfully and effectively. The garden scene is Shakespeare at his metaphorical best, a deceptively simple little scene. this provides much more than just a costume change opportunity. It gives perspective on the cyclical nature of man's machinations. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of King Richard II. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Ed. Alfred Harbage. Baltimore: books about penguins, 1969.