King Richard II surrenders to his rebellious cousin Bolingbroke. The King talks to the few loyal friends on the nature of temporal power and how death over takes everything and everybody. Under critical circumstances, King Richard II talk about graves, epitaphs and worms. Shakespeare portrays the fleeting nature of human glory. He explains how even monarchs leave nothing behind to call as their own except a small patch of land into which they will get buried. The dejected King talks on various ways Kings get killed. Some are slain in the battle field.
Some are poisoned to death by their own spouses. The Kings who believed their bodies to be forts or impregnable brass are shattered by just a pinprick. The whole castle wall, the human body, is gone. Death like a jester waits for the King. In fact, he only allows the King to act as if he is ruling and in control of everything. In fact, death is in supreme command. He chides his loyal friends who still believe that he is a monarch. He tells them that he is an ordinary mortal just like them with basic wants and the need to taste grief. He is humbled and realizes he can no more be called a King as he is powerless before the impending death.