What is King Richard? I feel like he's asking himself that at this point in the play, and will be asking it more in the upcoming acts. What is he as a person, apart from being a King? He seems to have lost any identity apart from that of the crown, and all of a sudden, that's a problem. I noticed this especially as he reacted to the successive news that different people had turned against him. It seems he has few, if any friends, and merely counts on fear of God to keep people on his side. During most of act three, X seems like a man who has suddenly realized that he has massively screwed his life up, and at every turn he's discovering that it is too late to fix things. "Well, let's go find my army." "oh, sorry, they went home yesterday." *Angry rambling* "Then let's go find my uncle" "Oh, he went to the other side, too." He's discovering that he's finally run out of chances. What does X do? He responds first with hope-- but this later turns to despair. Essentially, he asses the situation, makes a lot of angry speeches, and realizes that it's over, no matter what he does. What does he mean? I'm not sure how to answer that question based on Act three. Shakespeare seems to be indicating that a King owes something to his subjects or tragedy will befall him. I also see a human connection-- if you rely on people to keep your power, you can't treat people the way King Richard seems to.
Essentially, King Richard is giving up. He's learning his lesson, but too late, and the Kingdom is going to pass into other hands.