In history Richard the third reigned from 1483-1485. He had two brothers, King Edward 4 and the duke of Clarence, George. He was also the uncle of his predecessor Edward 5. He was in the house of York and was the first duke of Gloucester, and then he became the lord protector for a short time before he himself seized the throne. He is accused of many murders but none have ever been proved. Although he was not graceful in getting to the throne, when he did he was a fair and just leader.
King Richard the third was the last king to be killed in battle at Bosworth Field. He was then followed by henry 7. Richard became the last Plantagenet dynasty who had ruled England since 1154.
Richard is portrayed in the play as an evil and malignant man who is heartless in his fight for kingship. He is also, especially in the first scene, described as an unthinkably ugly man that people don’t want to look at and he can’t bear to look at in a mirror. It was thought that in history he had a slight hunchback and that one of his arms was withered but not as dramatically as it is stated in the play. It was thought that his outer appearance conveniently mirrored the darkness of his soul. In the very first scene we are introduced to Richard in a soliloquy. The first line, “Now is the winter of our discontent” shows his bitterness and self-consciousness he has about his appearance. He uses winter as imagery for unhappy and lonely times. I think this may be an explanation for his actions in the rest of the play. The soliloquy carries on to show that he is jealous of his older brother the handsome king, he refers to his life as summer to show the comparison between the two. Richard says he is “cheated of feature by dissembling nature.” And that he is “deformed, unfinished, sent before my time”. I think this is the reason for wanting revenge on his brothers and for wanting to prove himself by getting to the throne by any means! Also in regards to his reputation it may be that he was already thought of badly because of his hunchback and so people assumed he was a bad person.
I think Richard does deserve his reputation because he was evil and malicious. He killed many people and he manipulated people into gaining what he wanted. Also he was ruthless in his fight for the crown and would even do wrong to his family.
I think Richard chose the reputation he was given. He must have been very self-conscious about the way people look on him because of his deformities and he would have wanted people to look at him differently and with respect. He could not compete with his brothers as they were properly formed and the only way of gaining the respect he wants is to become King.
He says at the very start that, “ since I cannot prove a lover…I am determined to prove a villain” this shows that his evil plan has been thought of long before the play begins and it has been made fool proof. The first bit of the plan is in motion and the aim was “ to set my brother Clarence and the king in deadly hate the one against the other”. A man willing to cause a rift between brothers deserves everything he gets.
Later on when Richard hears of the king’s illness he says privately, “ he cannot live, I hope; and must not die till George be pack’d with post-horse up to heaven.”
This does not need much explanation to show why it is evil as he has a death wish on both his brothers, but doesn’t want them to die until they fully hate one another.
In scene 2 we find out about another two murders, when we meet Lady Anne. She is waiting with her late husband’s. Edward, Prince of Wales, coffin. He was murdered by Richard, as was his father, King Henry.
Richard intercepts the coffin and tells them to “set it down”. As expected Anne is not pleased with this interference and she calls him a “foul devil” and, maybe more offensively, “ thou lump of foul deformity”. Anne also has a death wish on Richard but does not have the heart to carry it out.
Richard is manipulative. He manages to get Anne to wear his ring and later to be his wife, even though she hates him. In a soliloquy after Anne moves on with the coffin, He says, “I’ll have her; but I will not keep her long”. This is a heartless thing to say and we wonder if has the ability to love.
“Out devil! … Thou kill’dst my husband Henry in the tower.” This was the angry cry of the widowed Queen Margaret and “devil” was used once again. She also refers to him as “bottled spider”. This is a good use of animal imagery as spiders are a hated creature but are very unimportant. Imagery is affective as it illustrates a vivid picture to the audience and the build up of animal imagery supports the wicked nature of Richard. Richard already has many enemies and it is only scene 2. His reputation is already soiled at this early stage, and with just reason.
Dramatic irony is used in scene 3, when Richard tells the audience of his plan to turn people against the Queen. He talks of “clothing his naked villainy” and that he “seems a saint when most I play a devil”.
We see his plan in action in Act 2, when he turns Buckingham against the Queen. Buckingham is obviously converted when he says, “We wait upon your grace” this is achieved when Richard talks about how he thinks that the queen was responsible for Clarence's death.
Richard has great pleasure in informing the King and Queen of Clarence’s death, yet another evil thing committed by Richard. He is devious, as he acts happy until the Queen says, “I do beseech your grace to take out Brother Clarence to your grace.” This is when he tells them and accuses the Queen of doing “injury to scorn his corse”. He has deliberately waited for the Queen to mention him and for a reason to abuse the Queen. This is very two-faced and he is a lot like this when the King is not in the room but is very pleasant to the Queen when he is.
I definitely believe that Richard does deserve the reputation he is given. Many people dislike him but all have good reasons. I also think Richard anticipated that he would not be liked by many when he started planning to seize the throne. By the end of the book Richard has no friends and only his servants who are probably just scared or in need of a job. People that he befriended during the play like Buckingham had left by the end because Richard refused to give him what he had promised. Another reason was that Richard had grown to dislike him because he had failed to kill the princes as a matter of heart, he fled for the fear of losing his life.
All of his family disliked him, especially his mother, who at one time says, “Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end; shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend”.
His wife hates him and refers to him as a “ foul devil” and a toad. Another person who is not a fan.
His best friend Buckingham walks out on him and starts a rebellion against him, which eventually brings him down.
I think he was an evil man and deserved everything he got. He made his reputation what it was. Although I do think that he may already have been disliked and feared because of his appearance and this is what drove him to be so desperate to get the throne .His reputation was all part of the play as it is a moralistic play. The moral would probably be a mixture of, “Don’t judge a person by their appearance”, “ Do not hurt, or kill” and “do not covet others possessions.” These are all traditional morals and are all very important.