At the beginning of the play, the power struggle that will later emerge is largely hidden. It is Mowbray and Bolingbroke who are in overt conflict with each other, and Richard gives every impression of being an impartial arbiter in their dispute. However, it soon becomes apparent that Richard is unfit to rule, exposing the impact of corruption and opportunism on his reign.

Richard’s corruption becomes apparent both from his actions and what others say about him. He is often petty and insincere, deriding Bolingbroke and Gaunt in private while acting with apparent civility and justice toward them to their faces. He does not choose his advisers wisely and allows them to mislead him; as Northumberland states, “The king is not himself, but basely led / By flatterers” (2.1.241-42). Richard’s poor management skills have alienated large swaths of people, as he overtaxes his subjects and wages wars that he is not capable of effectively leading. As Ross states: “The commons hath he pill’d with grievous taxes / And quite lost their hearts. The nobles hath he fin’d / For ancient quarrels and quite lost their hearts” (2.1.246-48). Richard is thus shown to be overreaching and corrupt: Instead of tending to the common good as a just ruler should, he has “lost [the] hearts” of his subjects through his self-aggrandizing and immoderate exercise of power.