BOLINGBROKE, HENRY

later Henry IV duke of Hereford, son of John of Gaunt, and the primary antagonist in Shakespeare's Richard II. A pragmatic man of action, he is the dramatic opposite of the philosophical King Richard. Bolingbroke's hypocrisy is evident, however, in his repeated denials that he intends to usurp the throne and his hollow expression of penitence after Richard's murder. (See also Henry IV.)