“He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber,
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute....”
Richard is essentially saying that instead of being a fearful brave leader, King Edward spends his time indulged in amorous activities. The power of the language itself emphasises to great lengths the disgust that Richard holds for his brother. As the speech goes on his contempt that he holds for the king grows. Richard then changes the attention to his personal concerns,
“ But I, that am not shap’d for sportive tricks,
I, that am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty,
I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion.....”
Richard quickly switches the emphasis from the king to himself and his standing in the whole matter. At this moment in time Shakespeare’s main concern is Richard and Richard’s main concern is also Richard. Which emphasises and singles out Richards main concerns which is purely himself.
The speech in itself is a very effective way it is used to arouse the audience in such a way that they are left with mixed questions and feelings. Such as who Richard is and what has caused his descriptive outpour. In the course of the speech, Richard says,
“ I am determined to prove a villain”
Quickly the audience is made to believe that evil, is the source of Richard’s pleasure and that
At no point in the duration of his speech does Richard hesitate to think or question himself. Which may show him to be a spontaneous person. As he continues Richard shares his plans quite intimately and very generously with the audience. He tells us that he has caused trouble between his brothers, George, Duke of Clarence and King Edward. We are made of Richard’s true treacherous nature when he says,
“Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here Clarence comes..”
He clearly does not want anyone to be aware of his motives and he is so easily able to change or conceal his feelings so well, which show him to be the true manipulator he really is.
All of the background information that we are presented with in this opening speech that is delivered to the audience through Richard is carried out so that the audience gains a fair insight into the main plot of the story.
The prologue gives us details of some of the significant characters in the play, but most of all it gives us a clear image of Richard of who the play is titled after. Shakespeare makes Richard out to be a character who is a victim of his own actions as well as one who takes charge of his own destiny. With Richard, Shakespeare takes us through his character and his opening speech plays a big part in this role. From the opening of the play we already know that we are about to account upon something that is sinister if not true evil.
My personal response to the prologue is that it is has received a perfect position in the play. It is right at the beginning of the play so it is a source of information, which gives us details and clues about background and characters as well as potential plot lines. In picturing Richard as if in a production, I imagine a deformed middle aged man who is desperately trying to win over the audience. His speech is powerful and is a brilliant demonstration of his persuasive powers. To me he is attempting to coerce the audience into sympathising with him and to seeing things from his point of view because there are always two sides to a coin. I don’t think that he actually manages to achieve this but he does mange to stir them up and have some bias or some understanding into his motive before other characters are introduced into the play. He does not want us to convict him but because the speech is a soliloquy what is being portrayed is what Richard is actually thinking and not what he is pretending to be. So he is showing his true colours right from the beginning so that we know Richards demeanour from the outset.
