“And all the clouds that loured upon our house”,
Here he uses the “clouds” as the object that is blanketing Britain from prosperity, and this is to do with historical context. But not only is Richard despairing at the absence of war, he is frowning upon the complacency of the soldiers, as “Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths” and he is criticising their vanity which he believes is premature. But also this hatred could be out of envy and jealousy of the better looking soldiers as he has nothing to be vain about because he is deformed.
After this he goes on to personify his weapons,
“Our bruised arms hung up for monuments”
The personification of his weapons makes them part of him and they show his affection for them. He then says “Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings.” He is reminiscing about the sounds of the army again further enhancing his affection for war.
In the proceeding lines he begins to make the contrasts and comparisons between war and peace, “Our dreadful marches to delightful measures” this is telling us how soldiers marching have turned to them dancing, again telling us of their vanity. Another contrast is,
”Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front”, This is a more complex contrast to understand but the visage or face of war is now smooth and open going from a frown (wrinkled) to a smile (smooth). Towards the end of the section he then begins to come back to vanity.
“He capers, nimbly, in a lady’s chamber.” Here he is saying how soldiers are now forgetting about war and are getting back to the pleasures of life, and vanity.
On the next line he then shows his mood towards it by using alliteration to change the tone,
“To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.”
The sounds are the sharp “L’s” and “S’s” which sounds very snake like, a creature which is often linked with sly and evil which very much describes the character which Richard is turning out to be.
“But I am not shaped for sportive tricks”, he goes on to explain in the next line. And the way he uses “Shaped” is to tell us that he is hunchbacked and deformed, and the “sportive” to show the naughty, secretive ways of the soldiers. Also the “but” at the beginning of the line is an indicator to us and he now begins to tell us his reasons.
“Nor made to court an amorous looking glass”, He tells us he is not as vain as others and the looking glass is a mirror upon which they admire themselves.
“I that am rudely stamped” is expressing to us how he is scarred with his deformity and it is his for life. Later we begin to here the social and philosophical contexts of his reasons for his hatred.
“Cheated of feature by dissembling nature” here he is angry at god for not making him normal and is not grateful. He puts it to us plainly in the next line,
“Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made
up-“
He fells incomplete and broken by his deformity and because society had such a disgusted and feared view at it makes him feel worse.
“and that so lamely and unfashionable”, this really outlines his feeling towards society and society’s feeling towards him. The word “unfashionable” is telling us that he is out casted and frowned upon in society, because if you were unfashionable and did not wear brand named clothes you would find yourself being laughed at or even bullied. So it also shows us the moral values of society and how they are often very harsh. He also says “Dogs bark at me” this is a very strong comment and shows how even the animals are disturbed by his presence. And at the end of the section he says,
“And descant on mine own deformity” and this means that he is pleasured by looking at himself even thought other don’t. And in a way this shows us he has a strong character, and he is prepared to except what he is and not shy away from it.
And finally in section 3 of his Soliloquy he begins to churn out his schemes to us (the audience). And this is where we begin to side and sympathise with him. He says,
“I am determined to prove a villain” and the reason behind this is because he cannot prove the hero, even with determination. But again he emits confidence,
“Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous” which shows he is already scheming and is urging us to follow him on his journey. Near the close he boasts,
“As I am subtle, false, and treacherous.” This really makes us believe, that he can prevail against all odds.
This opening soliloquy is crucial to the way we side with the characters throughout the whole play, but it is mainly due to his Psychological effect on us because we always seem to support the under dog which he is. But we sympathise with him as a result of our admiration because his physical condition makes him weaker against others. And from this he also has a very over the top attitude which makes him humorous as he addresses us directly and often un truthfully. This creates Shakespeare’s Machiavel/ Vice character.
The Staging of this scene would also contribute a lot, as it would probably have Richard moving around the stage addressing the whole audience, with a spot light following him to strengthen his presence.
The story is about the rise and fall of Richard, and his conquest to prove a villain to us (the audience). And throughout the play his attitude becomes more ruthless as he edges closer to the throne. And when he does become king, it is by very sly tactics to make himself more genuine to others. But after he is crowned a rapid series of events leads to the battle of Bosworth were he is killed.
Richard gains the throne by using sly tactics. As when he is to meet other lords he prepares, reading a bible and being surrounded by clergy. This makes us think that he is Godly, therefore perfect materiel for a king but as we know he is deformed, and this would be a sign of the devil meaning this group of lord are very corrupt to approve to him. But it is not without persuading because his most loyal companion, Buckingham is given the role to act in front of the lords and demand a new king be crowned. And so everyone turns to the choice of Richard as he has royal blood and is seen to be Godly and honest, and so he manipulates his audience as well as the other characters into believing he is Godly even thought he is angry towards God for giving him a deformity which he now accepts. So Richard is also being very critical and corrupt of his own beliefs, because he is “determined to prove the villain.”
Act 5 scene 3 is set the night before the Battle of Bosworth. And in this scene The Battle of Bosworth also takes place, in which Richard is killed. But the main relevance is in that night before because it tells us a lot about the fates and characteristics of both Richard and Richmond.
Firstly Richmond is joined by several other followers as stated,
“(Enter to his tent Richmond, with followers)” where as Richard is alone.
Following the stage directions to enter Richmond’s he begins to talk to his followers and he says, “Put in their hands Thy bruising irons of wrath,” . Richmond is telling his followers to prepare their swords and weapons for battle. In the next lines he says,
“That they may crush down with a heavy fall
The usurping helmets of our adversaries”
Here, using the word “usurper” he is referring to Richard and his desire to kill him and regain the throne. Next he begins to reveal his Philosophical reasons as he turns to God in prayer and says,
“Make us Thy ministers of chastisement,
That we may praise Thee in the victory!
To thee I do commend my watchful soul”
Here he is referring to the Divine Right of Kings stating that he must be crowned as he is the rightful, Godly King as he is Praying. And “praising Thee in victory” means he will that God for their victory, which is shown by the capital “T”.
After this we enter the Ghost of the Prince who Richard Killed and he visits both Richard and Richard to reveal the fate to the War. He says, “Let me sit heavy on thy soul tomorrow!” the prince is telling Richard that his death shall remain on his conscience in the battle, and for the first time making him feel guilty followed by, “Despair, therefore, and die!” condemning him to death.
He then visits Richmond with Blessings for tomorrow ,” Be cheerful” he is telling Richmond not to worry, “butcher’d princes fight in thy behalf” because the princes killed by Richard will be on his side.
The Ghost of King Henry then visits the pair and comes with tellings of the same sort, damning Richard to death and blessing Richmond to reign victorious.
We then first fell Sympathy for Richard when he says, “O coward conscience”, this shows to us that in spite of all his evil deeds he does have a conscious, which in manifested for the first time in the play by the Ghosts. And because Richards’s humanity is showing through we there fore feel sympathy for him. He then says,
“cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh” which is his sweating and trembling with fear of the ghosts, but fundamentally Death. And again we see him being very contradictory and critical of himself when he says, “Richard loves Richard”. This is compared to the opening soliloquy when he was disgusted at the vanity of others, but this is more to do with the fact that he did everything for himself and not for God, as Richmond is doing. Richard then says fearfully,
“My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain”
These lines are important because we begin to see how Richards’s conscience is attacking him and how for the first time he is beginning to regret what he has done. And because of what he has said we can see that he has committed many crimes which are the “tongues” and now he has proved himself a villain he is a villain. We also sympathise with him because he has a sense of dejection,
“There is no creature loves me
And if I die no soul will pity me
And wherefore should they, since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself?”
Here we sympathise with him because he feels rejected and no self pity because his conscience has made him feel he deserves his fate. But also in this whole speech he is extremely fearful but fear is relative to courage and you have to fear something to have the courage to stand up against it, but he is excepting his death and showing courage to defeat Richmond when the time comes, as thin as the chance may be. And this is one way we have come to adore him.
When both Richard and Richmond awake They express their feelings about the forthcoming battle at Bosworth. Richard says to Ratcliff, “I fear, I fear” Which has been his main emotion throughout the scene. And then,
“shadows tonight
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard”, is showing us his humanity which makes us pity him, but again all has been for himself. Compared to Richmond’s pleads to God to restore order. And concluding the battle Richard says,
“And I will stand the hazard of the die
I think there be six Richmond’s in the field”
The end leaves us with how courageous he is but it still does not evade his fate of death by Richmond whose quest is to remove the usurper and restore order to Britain. Richard is slain.
But also in the ending of the film, Richard is falling to his death but he still has time to look up at us (the audience) and laugh as if to say, “ look at me, I did what you thought I couldn’t and at the same time you have been thoroughly entertained!” which shows his arrogance, but again makes us feel a sense of admiration for him.
Throughout the whole play Richard makes us feel admiration and sympathy for him by using a clever selection of techniques. By using his very open, machiavel characteristics in his opening soliloquy he wins us over by revealing all his schemes to us, and putting his trust in us. Later he relates to his male audience by being able to woo the ladies and also with his courageous fighting skills. But also as he begins to realise that his plans have been fulfilled. These are the ways that we feel admiration for him.
And we feel sympathy for him because he is deformed and robbed of beauty, and later he begins to gain his conscience and guilt and regret his mistakes. This makes him very human and therefore we relate to his attitudes about his plans. Because when we plan something and it does not turn out as desired, we would regret afterwards - especially if it had harmed someone. And this is what Richard does towards the end as his sense of glory begins to fade.
But he also give us admiration for him because he is the anchor in our understanding and involvement in the play, which in the film is symbolised by his smiling at the end, because he knows he has captivated us since the beginning.
Overall, the main reason we feel admiration and sympathy for him is because he only human and we are able to relate to his reasoning. As he is deformed, we are also conscious about are aesthetic appearance, and it can balance decisions we make and how we feel. But also he has pure ambition to achieve his goals, which we also have and we desire something, we will be determined to achieve it. People also have envy and jealousy of others, and these are the ways in which we feel sympathy and admiration for Richard III.
