Furthermore, Richard uses rhetoric language to try to persuade Lady Anne to marry him. In the first extract he uses antithesis, ‘more wonderful when angels are so angry.’ However in the second extract Richard and Anne both use emotional blackmail, ‘thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected mine,’ for her ‘would they were basilisks’, to strike thee dead.’ Richard’s usage of antithesis makes Anne feel less certain or confused about Richard. However his ability to rhetorically persuade Lady Anne exposes one of the ways he is able to convince her to marry him.
In addition, Richard is audacious towards Lady Anne. To explain further in the first extract he is suggesting she should share her bed with him, ‘your bedchamber’ Anne replies ‘ill rest betide the chamber where thou liest.’ Similarly he uses this same technique in the second extract, ‘would they were basilisks’, to strike thee dead,’ for his ‘I would they were, that I might die at once.’ Richard’s audacity reverses Lady Anne’s insults in his attempt to win her affection.
Moreover, Richard by his own admission adopts another tactic to win her over. In the first extract Richard blames Anne’s beauty for being the cause of his murderous acts, ‘your beauty was the cause of that effect.’ On the other hand in the second extract he asks for her forgiveness and he feels very guilty for what he has done, ‘if thy revengeful heart cannot forgive, lo here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword.’ Richard’s strategy of changing the pace and topic of his wooing affects Lady Anne in her becoming more accepting towards Richard.
Additionally, Richard uses his clever charm to win Lady Anne over. In the first extract Richard hits a nerve on Anne to make her feel a bit unsure about Richard, ‘did it help thee to a better husband.’ Similarly he uses this same technique in the second extract, ‘why dost thou spit at me?’ Before he asked this question Anne spat at him. Richard used his charm to cleverly not get angry with Anne for spitting at him; instead he was able to keep control of his emotions and this helped him to induce her into marrying him.
In conclusion I feel that Richard cleverly convinced Lady Anne that he loved her when he actually didn’t. This is an example of Richard’s deception and he manipulated Anne into marrying him, which shows a cunning and clever side to Richard. This is a representation of his character by him meaning one thing and then not actually meaning it, as his words have double meanings. For example, ‘your beauty, that did haunt me in my sleep.’ Also, Lady Anne accepted him because she was at a vulnerable stage and felt that she needed some protection from a man.
