From Richard’s opening soliloquy we also know that he is unhappy that war is over, as he feels unable to participate in celebrations concerning victory because of his deformities:
‘I that am curtailed to this fair proportion’
(line 18) and:
‘Deformed, Unfinished, sent before my time’
(line 20)
These lines indicate that Richard was in fact a premature birth and thus physically affected. In the play, it is thought he was born with a hunchback, and possibly a withered arm, and so because of his deformities, Richard is determined to behave wickedly as a sort of revenge towards fate.
Later in the soliloquy Richard talks of his plans. He has plotted for his brother to be arrested so that he is not suspected of future mischievousness. According to his soliloquy Richard paid drunkards to go around blurting out rumours of a man who shall murder King Edward’s sons, a man with power whose name begins with a ‘G’. (although the audience later find out that this refers to Richard of Gloucester). Richard effectively wants his brother out of the way. Richard has formed a spiteful nature, and appears to wish he was still at war; he is a fighter, and wants nothing to do with the celebrations, but to be back with a sword in his hand. He is jealous of other men, and their lives which they have to return to from war. They are handsome, and attractive to women, but he is an ugly foul looking thing.
‘He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber,
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute’,
But I – that am not shaped for sportive tricks’
(line 12 – 14 inclusive)
During his soliloquy, Richard appears as a spiteful and villainous figure. He cannot fit in, and so wallows in evil thoughts. Shakespeare has created an unwanted and solitary image of Richard to us. Richard is incapable of moving ‘nimbly’, because of his deformity and so his jealousy prevails. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard and his reign of terror is very unflattering. We also see his thoughts get out of hand later on in 1:i. His second soliloquy starts with:
‘He cannot live, I hope – and I must not die,
Till George be packed with posthorse up to heaven.’
(first line 145 + 146)
Richard is hoping that the King will not die until after Clarence has been killed. Despite the fact that he is the one who slayed her husband and father, Richard claims to marry the girl, is to become her father and her husband, and make amends:
‘For then I’ll marry Warwick’s youngest daughter.
What though I killed her husband and her father?
The readiest way to make the wench amends
Is to become her husband and her father’
(line153 – 155 inclusive)
Shakespeare presents Richard as getting carried away, in his wicked thoughts. Shakespeare has now got the audience thinking all sorts of things because Richard has come across as not only a manipulator, but a villainous evil piece of work. We start to see how far he will go to get power.
Back to 1:i’s opening soliloquy and Richard’s brother, “George, Duke of Clarence” enters, escorted guards, and the keeper of the tower, Brakenbury. Clarence has been arrested. But when they arrive Richard’s attitude has changed, and he appears to be oblivious as to why Clarence has been arrested, much like Clarence himself.
‘Brother, good day. What means this armed guard
That waits upon your Grace?’
(line 42 - 43)
This word play is known as dramatic irony; the audience are aware of something, but characters on stage are not. Shakespeare creates an interesting mood for the audience because of the sense of secrecy, and the obliviousness of other characters on stage. This creates an element of suspense. Richard knows too well why Clarence has been arrested but acts as if he is unaware. Richard plays along with him and acts concerned towards his brother, but also jokes – he is secretly enjoying himself. He is appearing as a classic villain, he hides his thoughts and emotions to fool victims. Another place where Shakespeare has provided the ability to modify mood, is during 1:2 :
Anne: ‘And thou unfit for anyplace but hell!’
Richard: ‘Yes, one place else, if you let me name it.’
Anne: ‘Some dungeon’.
Richard: ‘Your bed-chamber’
(lines 109 – 112 inclusive)
Shakespeare is creating a new mood on the stage by the event order. He has written it in such a way that the audience can become intrigued by what has happened, and feel characters emotions themselves. He manages to alter mood on stage with just a single sentence if need be. For example, during lines 1 : ii : 109 – 112 Shakespeare has changed the mood from arguing, distraught and anger to a small period of humour.
Also in giving him different roles, Richard can succeed in his plans, and manipulate Anne. Richard plays with Anne’s emotions and can be persuasive by flattering her greatly. He is also manipulative to Clarence:
‘‘Tis not the King that sends you to the tower
My Lady Grey his wife, Clarence – ‘tis she’
(lines 63 + 64)
Richard is turning Clarence against the queen. He wants to be the last person Clarence suspects of sending him to tower. Shakespeare has written a lot of parts in the play incredibly skilfully and used a personal style of writing (Similar techniques are used throughout his plays, and are notable here. They were especially unique to him). Richard has one last word with Clarence, and promises to get him released.
Act One scene two opens with Lady Anne standing next to King Henry VI’s coffin, who was her father in law, but was murdered by Richard before the play started. Anne speaks a long soliloquy of similar length to that of Richard’s at the beginning of the play while weeping.
‘Cursed be the hands that caused these fatal holes!
Cursed the heart that had the heart to do it!
Cursed the blood that let this blood from hence!’
(line 14 – 16 inclusive)
Anne is distraught with what has happened and screams upon the murderer. When she curses the blood, she is referring to Richard’s family as a whole, and the rest of the curses, are for Richard himself. It is a very important part in the soliloquy and adds mood to the speech. Shakespeare also uses repetition and imagery to great effect. The audience can really feel strong emotions spoken by characters. Anne says the word ‘wounds’ many times referring to the gashes in King Henry’s body. At one point Anne uses the word windows instead of wounds. This is a simile where she is saying that she is looking into the gashes. She feels that by looking through what are the windows of King Henry, she is looking into the truth behind his murder.
Richard enters the scene, and Anne compares him to the devil. Shakespeare shows Richard as a strong, confident, brave man at this point. He is not affected by those he has hurt.
‘O, gentlemen, see, see! Dead Henry’s wounds
Open their congealed mouths and bleed afresh!
Blush, blush, thou lump of deformity,
For ‘tis thy presence that exhales this blood’’
(line 65 – 68 inclusive)
Shakespeare creates another play on words, where Richard questions Anne’s foul mouth and she replies exclaiming that he is a villain. Richard introduces compliments, comparing Anne to an angel and she responds consistently with insults.
Richard tells Anne to take up his sword and to kill him for his crimes, but she cannot kill him. He says to her:
‘Take up the sword again, or take up me.’
(line 184)
Despite her prejudice against him, Anne is slowly won over by his pleas and agrees to marry him. Richard's supreme skill in the art of insincere flattery has won him Anne. When she leaves the stage, Richard feels triumphent about his success in wooing her, but reveals that he will soon be rid of her. In this soliloquy, he reflects back on his evil actions as well as how well everything is going. Shakespeare has revealed to the audience that he can be incredibly persuasive and manipulative that he has succeeded in his task, and is becoming very evil.
Shakespeare’s plays were of course not intended to be historically accurate but were designed for entertainment and maximum dramatic affect. In Richard III Shakespeare alters, and adds to the audience’s perception and opinion of Richard using language and by changing historical facts. Richard III has always been one of his most popular plays and, since its earliest performances, great actors have leaped at the chance to play the scheming murderous tyrant. Throughout the play, Richard and many others, call attention to what he himself terms his ‘deformity’. In Shakespearean times, people believed that being ugly was a reflection of a sinful evil nature, or perhaps a punishment for past wrong doings. Richard III didn’t actually have a hunchback or withered arm. But this is not the only historical reference that has been changed. Shakespeare compresses time to suit the play’s performance. To achieve dramatic intensity he made all kinds of alterations and additions. For example, Henry VI’s funeral actually occurred seven years before Clarence’s imprisonment; and Shakespeare invented Richard’s wooing of Anne. Condensing time, and changing details helps the play to ‘flow’. It provides a smoother front to the story, and also allows Shakespeare to write as he pleases.
Language was another key ingredient which Shakespeare used to give Richard different personas at different times in the play. Most commonly: during 1:i and 1:ii, Richard could appear to be two different types of people, the villain, or the hero. He uses many metaphors and similes in his plays as they are often clever comparisons or a good way of revealing character’s emotions and events. Word play, and special uses of language including dramatic irony, and dramatic intensity were used. Using cleverly laid out language Shakespeare could easily alter moods and opinions of characters in the play. In this way, Shakespeare has successfully shaped the audience’s perception of Richard which also alters their perceptions of the play itself.
