This
review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained
therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to
copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted
Permission
Title:
Richard III
Author: William Shakespeare
Rating:
3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Play
Pages:
312
Words: 90K
From Wikipedia
The play begins with
Richard of Gloucester describing the re-accession to the throne of
his brother, King Edward IV of England, eldest son of the late
Richard, Duke of York (implying the year is 1471):
Now is the winter of our
discontent
Made glorious summer by
this sun of York;
And all the clouds that
lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the
ocean buried.
Richard is an ugly
hunchback, "rudely stamp'd", "deformed, unfinish'd",
cannot "strut before a wanton ambling nymph", and says he
is "determined to prove a villain / And hate the idle pleasures
of these days." Through a prophecy, that "G of Edward's
heirs the murderer shall be", he has contrived to have his
brother Clarence conducted to the Tower of London (the king
interpreted the prophecy as George of Clarence, but the prophecy
could just as easily refer to Richard of Gloucester). Speaking to
Clarence en route, Richard blames the queen and says that he will
himself try to help Clarence. Richard continues plotting:
I'll marry Warwick's
youngest daughter.
What, though I kill'd her
husband and her father?
Lady Anne attends the
corpse of Henry VI with Trestle and Berkeley going from St Paul's
Cathedral. She bids them set down the "honourable load"
then laments. Richard appears, and Lady Anne says that "Henry's
wounds [...] bleed afresh". He confesses the murder, and she
spits at him. He offers himself to her sword, but she drops it. He
offers to kill himself at her order, but she accepts his ring.
Richard exults at having won her over so and tells the audience that
he will discard her once she has served his purpose.
The atmosphere at court
is poisonous. The established nobles are at odds with the upwardly
mobile relatives of Queen Elizabeth, a hostility fueled by Richard's
machinations. Queen Margaret, Henry VI's widow, returns, though
banished, and she warns the squabbling nobles about Richard, cursing
extensively. The nobles, all Yorkists, unite against this last
Lancastrian and ignore the warnings.
Richard orders two
murderers to kill Clarence in the tower. Clarence relates a
distressing dream to his keeper before going to sleep. The murderers
arrive with a warrant, and the keeper relinquishes his office. While
the murderers are pondering what to do, Clarence wakes. He recognises
their purpose and pleads with them. Presuming that Edward has offered
them payment, he tells them to go to Gloucester, who will reward them
better for having kept him alive. One of the murderers explains that
Gloucester hates him and sent them. Pleading again, he is eventually
interrupted by "Look behind you, my lord" and stabbing
(1478).
The compacted nobles
pledge absent enmities before Edward, and Elizabeth asks Edward to
receive Clarence into favour. Richard rebukes her, saying: "Who
knows not that the gentle duke is dead?". Edward, who has
confessed himself near death, is much upset by this news and led off.
Richard blames those attending Edward. Edward IV soon dies (1483),
leaving Richard as Protector. Lord Rivers, Lord Grey, and Sir Thomas
Vaughan, have been imprisoned. The uncrowned Edward V and his brother
are coaxed (by Richard) into an extended stay at the Tower of London.
Assisted by his cousin
Buckingham, Richard mounts a campaign to present himself as the true
heir to the throne, pretending to be a modest and devout man with no
pretensions to greatness. Lord Hastings, who objects to Richard's
accession, is arrested and executed on a trumped-up charge of
treason. Richard and Buckingham spread the rumour that Edward's two
sons are illegitimate and therefore have no rightful claim to the
throne, and they are assisted by Catesby, Ratcliffe, and Lovell. The
other lords are cajoled into accepting Richard as king despite the
continued survival of his nephews (the Princes in the Tower).
Richard asks Buckingham
to secure the death of the princes, but Buckingham hesitates. Richard
then recruits Sir James Tyrrell who kills both children. When Richard
denies Buckingham a promised land grant, Buckingham turns against
Richard and defects to the side of Henry, Earl of Richmond, who is
currently in exile. Richard has his eye on Elizabeth of York, Edward
IV's next remaining heir, and poisons Lady Anne so he can be free to
woo the princess. The Duchess of York and Queen Elizabeth mourn the
princes' deaths. Queen Margaret meets them. As predicted, Queen
Elizabeth asks Queen Margaret for help in cursing. Later, the Duchess
applies this lesson and curses her only surviving son before leaving.
Richard asks Queen Elizabeth to help him win her daughter's hand in
marriage. She is not taken in by his eloquence, and stalls him by
saying that she will let him know her daughter's answer in due
course.
The increasingly paranoid
Richard loses what popularity he had. He faces rebellions, led first
by Buckingham and subsequently by the invading Richmond. Buckingham
is captured and executed. Both sides arrive for a final battle at
Bosworth Field. Prior to the battle, Richard is sleeping and visited
by the ghosts of his victims, each telling him to "Despair and
die". They likewise attend and wish victory on Richmond. Richard
wakes, screaming "Jesus", then realises that he is all
alone and cannot even pity himself.
At the Battle of Bosworth
Field (1485), Lord Stanley (who is also Richmond's stepfather) and
his followers desert Richard, whereupon Richard calls for the
execution of George Stanley, hostage and Lord Stanley's son. But this
does not happen, as the battle is in full swing, and Richard is at a
disadvantage. Richard is unhorsed on the field, and cries out, "A
horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse". Richmond kills Richard
and claims the throne as Henry VII.
I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would. Richard is a
despicable character and I enjoyed seeing his rise to power because I
knew his fall was sudden and immediate (at least in the play. In real
life, no idea). At the same time, he is a mesmerizing character and
it was baffling to see others fall into his clutches because of his
honeyed tongue while his actions were in direct contradiction. He was
a great example of unchecked power
However, this was very long. A play at over 300 pages seems excessive
to me and trying to cram Richard's entire rise and fall into one
play, well, Shakespeare gave Henry VI 3 plays for goodness sake!Of
course, if somethings had been cut altogether, it probably would have
been better.
This play, while I enjoyed it, made me realize that my capacity for
Shakespeare has definite limits. As such, I'm going to give him
another break until next year. Then I'll have to decide whether to do
a 6month stint or to space them further apart (or is that “farther”?
That's one of those things I simply cannot get my head about. I'm
good with “to”, “two” and “too” but further/farther, I'm
lost). Any thoughts?
★★★✬☆
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
