In Act one Scene two Richard tries to court Anne even though he has killed her Father and Husband. When the conversation begins between him and Anne it appears as though he will get nowhere because Anne starts by saying things like “Foul devil” and “Villain” but Richard steadily gained Anne’s trust by use of persuasive actions and being able to confidently persuade her without any inkling of his true intentions.
“With all my heart; and much it joys me too,
To see you are become so penitent” (Act one Scene two)
By doing this he has shown the audience that he can persuade and convince anyone, even someone who has suffered at the hands him and also that his very amoral because he is charming a woman whom he has destroyed the life of so much. Which would in my view make him seem if not attractive a very interesting character to the audience.
In Act three Scene one Richard greets Prince Edward with Buckingham, Catesby and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The prince wonders why there are not many people waiting to greet him, Richard tells him,
“God keep you from them, and from such false friends!” (Act three Scene one)
This is a lie because the false friends are Rivers and Grey who did nothing wrong except to be in his path to being king. The prince believes him and finds out that is mother and brother are in the sanctuary. How Richard can lie to the prince would defiantly affect the view of Richard from the audiences view because the prince believes anything that Richard says this would make Richard seem attractive as he has lots of cunning and depth.
When in Act three Scene four, some of the main characters meet in a council-room in the Tower of London. Richard expresses his acting skills when he condemns Hastings to death for things that he did not do. But before he goes ahead with this, he acts normal then with no warning of what was to come he accused Hastings of treachery and plotting to kill him,
“Off with his head! Now, by Saint Paul I swear” (Act three Scene four)
The audience most probably excepts this as earlier on Hastings had told Catesby that he would not support Richard. However, what they do learn from what he says and does is that he can act very well and be cruel and kind within seconds of each other, all of the factors make him attractive because he is cold-blooded but can hide this so well.
In Act four Scene two an interesting situation occurs, when Buckingham asks for more time to think about killing the two princes but Richard takes this very badly and says that he will not trust Buckingham again,
“Tut, tut, thou art all ice. Thy kindness freezes” (Act four Scene two)
He then gets someone who will do it for money with no questions. This is showing that he is weakening because before he was crowned he would fight against Buckingham but now he just sends him away. This could affect the view of the audience towards Richard because he is becoming weaker and perhaps less attractive because of this.
In the final few scenes when Richard talks to his army and Richmond to his Richard appears to be very brave even when he hears the news that Derby has deserted him he still goes into the battle. Up to his final words, he is determined not to give up and to kill Richmond,
“A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”(Act five Scene four)
This last part of the play and Richards’s life I think truly impacts on the whole of the audience because even though he has committed horrific crimes and dreadful deeds the audience may be able to forgive him and admire his courage, which in turn leads to his attractiveness and character.
In conclusion, I think that throughout the play Shakespeare presents Richard as an interesting and attractive character. The audience can pick up on this in every part of the play and right up to the end Richard is attractive to the audience and achieves, in my opinion, the goal of an evil and dastardly man combined with someone who is interesting and has motives that are complex and intricate.
Bibliography
Shakespeare, William, Richard III, Oxford, Pearson Longman, 2004.