Richard III

The beginning of Richard III sets up the state of internal conflict within England’s court, conveying how Richard exploits these divisions to fulfill his ambition for the throne. The play begins with a soliloquy, and throughout the first act William Shakespeare heavily employs dramatic irony to emphasize the difference between appearances and true motivations. These scenes explore Richard’s cunning techniques, introducing the theme of The Dangers of Manipulation and Deceit, as well as revealing how the instability caused by the Wars of the Roses (See: Background) has weakened England’s political systems.

The first act concerns Richard’s plan to eliminate his brother George as a rival to the throne, showing how he leverages both familial bonds and the tension between the Queen’s relatives and the House of York to destroy his own brother. In the first scene, Richard declares his intentions to the audience, brazenly announcing that he will act as a villain in the pursuit of political power. Shakespeare then juxtaposes this speech with his demeanor toward George when they meet at the Tower of London. Richard feigns pity for George’s situation, promising to get him out of trouble, but also planting the idea that Queen Elizabeth is the real enemy. He tells George, “[T]his it is when men are ruled by women / ’Tis not the King that sends you to the Tower” (1.1.66-67). Richard will later continue this narrative when he implies to the other lords at court that Queen Elizabeth’s family was the one who ordered George’s murder in prison, making them more likely to support his political claim to the throne than Queen Elizabeth’s young sons.

In public, Richard maintains a sympathetic disposition, and it is only through his asides and soliloquys that the audience can determine his malevolent intentions. He often uses language with double meanings or euphemisms to hint at his two-faced characterization, seen in lines such as “Simple, plain Clarence, I do love thee so / That I will shortly send thy soul to heaven” (1.1.122-123). While sending his brother to heaven sounds like a loving gesture, his words also convey his real intent—to kill his own brother.

Richard’s seduction of Lady Anne Neville and his behavior at court establish his skill at duplicitous speech. In the second scene, Richard attempts to win over Anne to be his wife, despite the fact that he killed her husband and her father. His asides to the audience reveal that he does not truly love Anne, and that he considers the seduction to be politically useful and also a fitting test of his rhetorical skills. He seems to feel pride at his accomplishment, but no real attraction to Anne, saying, “Was ever woman in this humor wooed? / Was ever woman in this humor won? / I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long” (1.2.247-249).

However, in his dialogue with Anne, he maintains a pitiful disposition, telling her that he only killed her husband because of his love for her and claiming, “’twas thy beauty that provokèd me” (1.2.197). He manipulatively uses the threat of self-harm to force her to accept his ring, and then pretends to show respect for the dead King Henry VI to win her trust. With the other lords in court, Richard uses the same technique to win their trust. In a speech full of dramatic irony, he recounts to the other nobles the following:

Because I cannot flatter and look fair,

Smile in men’s faces, smooth, deceive, and cog,

Duck with French nods and apish courtesy, 

I must be held a rancorous enemy.

Cannot a plain man live and think no harm,

But thus his simple truth must be abused

With silken, sly, insinuating Jacks? (1.3.48-54).

Richard manipulates the pity and compassion that others show for him, intentionally lowering himself to ironically ensure his ascent in power. By taking on the appearance of a simple, foolish, lovestruck, and unattractive man, he is able to cover up his own dangerous qualities.

Act I of Richard III indicates the numerous problems in the court of King Edward IV that have arisen as a result of The Violent Cycle of Civil Unrest. This tension is particularly evident in Richard’s seduction of Anne, who has been a victim of this conflict. While Richard claims that Anne’s rejection is a form of unnatural violence, saying, “It is a quarrel most unnatural / To be revenged on him that loveth thee” (1.2.144-145), Anne reminds him that violent retribution is entirely normal in their situation, retorting, “It is a quarrel just and reasonable / To be revenged on him that killed my husband” (1.2.146-147).

George’s death in prison also serves as a reminder of the instability of England’s politics. While his murderers initially pity him, fearing that it will be a sin to kill him, one of the murderers eventually realizes that George is guilty of perjury, having broken his oath of loyalty to King Henry VI. George’s dream serves as a potent metaphor for instability, indicating that earthly wealth and powerful titles no longer protect England’s elites. He recounts a dream of falling overboard from a ship and drowning, describing the scene with a vivid comparison between earthly riches and human mortality:

Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wracks,

A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon,

Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,

Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,

All scattered in the bottom of the sea.

Some lay in dead men’s skulls, and in the holes 

Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept—

As ’twere in scorn of eyes—reflecting gems,

That wooed the slimy bottom of the deep

And mocked the dead bones that lay scattered by (1.4.25-34).

The image of dead bones and jewels mingled together on the sea floor points to the fragility of human glory. The jailor, Brankenbury, follows this up with his own pronouncement that princes experience troubles just as severely as common folk do, saying, “They often feel a world of restless cares / So that between their titles and low name / There’s nothing differs but the outward fame” (1.4.83-85). Shakespeare thus explores how England’s noble houses are so consumed by the cycle of violence and betrayal that even those who ought to be incredibly powerful experience massive reversals of fortune. This results in instability—instability that Richard finds useful for his rise to the throne.