Richard III (play)

The Tragedy of Richard III is a play by William Shakespeare, in which the monarch Richard III of England is unflatteringly depicted.

Synopsis

The play begins with Richard eulogising his brother, King Edward IV of England, eldest son of the late Richard, Duke of York

Related Topics:
Edward IV of England - Richard, Duke of York

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: Now is the winter of our discontent

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: made glorious summer by this sun of York

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The speech reveals Richard's jealousy and ambition, as his brother Edward rules the country successfully. Richard is an ugly hunchback, describing himself as "rudely stamp'd" and "deformed, unfinish'd", who cannot "strut before a wanton ambling nymph." He responds to the anguish of his condition with an outcast's credo: "I am determined to prove a villain / And hate the idle pleasures of these days." With little attempt at chronological accuracy (which he professes to despise), Richard conspires to have his brother George, who stands before him in the line of succession, conducted to the Tower of London as a suspected assassin; having bribed a soothsayer to confuse the suspicious king.

Related Topics:
Nymph - Credo - Villain - Tower of London - Assassin

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Richard next ingratiates himself with "the Lady Anne" -- Anne Neville, widow of the Lancastrian Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. Richard confides to the audience, "I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter. What though I kill'd her husband and her father?" Despite her prejudice against him, Anne is won over by his pleas and agrees to marry him. Richard, in collaboration with his friend Buckingham (Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham), plots to be the next king, and presents himself to the other lords as a modest, devout man with no pretensions to greatness. This causes them to select him as king after Edward IV's death - a death in which, ironically, Richard played no part - eventually putting aside the claims of his innocent young nephews (the Princes in the Tower).

Related Topics:
Anne Neville - Edward of Westminster - Prince of Wales - Warwick - Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham - Princes in the Tower

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Richard ensures his grip on the crown in a proactive manner. He murders all who stand in his way, including the young princes, Lord Hastings, his former ally Buckingham, and even his wife. These crimes do not go unnoticed, and when he has lost all popular support, Richard faces the invading Earl of Richmond (Henry VII of England) at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Prior to the battle, Richard is visited by the ghosts of those whose deaths he has caused, all of whom tell him to Despair and die! He awakes screaming for 'Jesu' (Jesus) to help him, slowly realizing that he is all alone in the world and that he hates even himself.

Related Topics:
Lord Hastings - Henry VII of England - Battle of Bosworth Field - Jesus

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Though the battle initially goes well, Richard is soon lost and alone on the field at the climax of the battle, and utters the often-quoted line, A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse! He is defeated in hand-to-hand combat by Richmond, and dies dramatically, a sword sheathed in his bowels.

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In dramatic terms, perhaps the most important (and, arguably, the most entertaining) feature of the play is the sudden alteration in Richard's character. For the first 'half' of the play, we see him as something of an anti-hero, causing mayhem and enjoying himself hugely in the process:

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: I do mistake my person all this while;

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: Upon my life, she finds, although I cannot,

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: Myself to be a marvellous proper man.

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: I'll be at charges for a looking-glass;

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Almost immediately after he is crowned, however, his personality and actions take a darker turn. He turns against loyal Buckingham ("I am not in the giving vein"), he falls prey to self-doubt ("I am in so far in blood, that sin will pluck on sin;"); now he sees shadows where none exist and visions of his doom to come ("Despair & die").

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