NOTES ON ACT 1
1. RICHARD'S OPENING SOLILOQUY
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York,
And all the clouds that loured upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried (I.i.1-4).
These are the first lines of the play. "This son of York" is Richard's brother Edward, the new and sickly king.
The former king, Henry the Sixth, a Lancaster, was murdered by Richard in the Wars of the Roses.
We noted that this play, like Sophocles's Antigone, begins at the end of a civil war.
Why does Richard use the pronoun "our"? To whom does it refer?
Some ideas: the Yorks, all of England, or Richard himself (the "Royal we").
If indeed Richard is referring to himself as "our," the reference seems quite ambivalent, since we know that
he isn't actually happy with this state of affairs. He resents the arts of peace and tells the audience that his "deformity" sets him at a disadvantage in the arts of love. In fact, he seems to be using "our" in a way that doesn't really include him.
The set-up of his sentence in the first two lines, and the use of enjambment, is tricky on Richard's part. Technically, he is saying
that the winter of discontent is over, but everything about the way the lines are written lets us know that
"NOW" is still the winter of discontent for Richard, who aspires to the throne and feels oppressed by the conditions of peace.
Richard cultivates a special relationship of intimacy and confidentiality with the audience. He lets us in on his intentions to murder his way to the throne. In this way, Shakespeare achieves two things:
1. he satisfies the demands of Tudor historiography (to tell a story that discredentializes Richard III).
2. he nonetheless creates a compelling, even strangely likeable, character, one whose appeal is based on his flagrant, in-your-face villainy.
Here is an example of Richard trying to win the audience over to supporting his coup by letting them in on his plans:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair, well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous..." (l.i.28-32)
Recall Ian McKellan's performance, and the self-satisfied glee with which he announces "Plots have I laid!" You can see why the role of Richard III is fun for an actor, and why the Introduction to our edition of the play (the Folger) says that "In Richard III, Shakespeare invites us on a moral holiday" (xiii). We have seen footage from the performances by Ian McKellen (1995), Laurence Olivier (1955), and Al Pacino (1996). When we go to the Belasco Theater, we will see Mark Rylance, the artistic director of London's Globe Theater, in the role.
1. RICHARD'S OPENING SOLILOQUY
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York,
And all the clouds that loured upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried (I.i.1-4).
These are the first lines of the play. "This son of York" is Richard's brother Edward, the new and sickly king.
The former king, Henry the Sixth, a Lancaster, was murdered by Richard in the Wars of the Roses.
We noted that this play, like Sophocles's Antigone, begins at the end of a civil war.
Why does Richard use the pronoun "our"? To whom does it refer?
Some ideas: the Yorks, all of England, or Richard himself (the "Royal we").
If indeed Richard is referring to himself as "our," the reference seems quite ambivalent, since we know that
he isn't actually happy with this state of affairs. He resents the arts of peace and tells the audience that his "deformity" sets him at a disadvantage in the arts of love. In fact, he seems to be using "our" in a way that doesn't really include him.
The set-up of his sentence in the first two lines, and the use of enjambment, is tricky on Richard's part. Technically, he is saying
that the winter of discontent is over, but everything about the way the lines are written lets us know that
"NOW" is still the winter of discontent for Richard, who aspires to the throne and feels oppressed by the conditions of peace.
Richard cultivates a special relationship of intimacy and confidentiality with the audience. He lets us in on his intentions to murder his way to the throne. In this way, Shakespeare achieves two things:
1. he satisfies the demands of Tudor historiography (to tell a story that discredentializes Richard III).
2. he nonetheless creates a compelling, even strangely likeable, character, one whose appeal is based on his flagrant, in-your-face villainy.
Here is an example of Richard trying to win the audience over to supporting his coup by letting them in on his plans:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair, well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous..." (l.i.28-32)
Recall Ian McKellan's performance, and the self-satisfied glee with which he announces "Plots have I laid!" You can see why the role of Richard III is fun for an actor, and why the Introduction to our edition of the play (the Folger) says that "In Richard III, Shakespeare invites us on a moral holiday" (xiii). We have seen footage from the performances by Ian McKellen (1995), Laurence Olivier (1955), and Al Pacino (1996). When we go to the Belasco Theater, we will see Mark Rylance, the artistic director of London's Globe Theater, in the role.
2. RICHARD AND LADY ANNE
In Act I, Scene 2, Richard tries to persuade Lady Anne to marry him.
She is the daughter-in-law of the slain king Henry the Sixth.
Richard murdered her husband and her father-in-law.
Obviously, it is a huge challenge to persuade the widow of a man you've just killed to marry you.
Shakespeare is giving Richard III a very difficult task.
When the scene begins, Anne is mourning her father-in-law, and cursing his killer Richard in very strong language.
Within a very short scene, a scene that takes place over the dead body of the king (flashback to Loraux: display of
the corpse), Richard gets very close to receiving a "yes" from Anne. But remember: she doesn't give an official yes. She gives a qualified, hesitant maybe, couched in ambiguous language.
Richard: But shall I live in hope?
Anne: All men I hope live so.
Richard: Vouchsafe to wear this ring.
Anne: To take is not to give. (I.2.218-21)
Richard courts Anne very aggressively. He manipulates her. He offers her his sword
with which to kill him, making the ultimatum: "Take up the sword again / or take up me."
Why does Richard want to marry Anne? Perhaps to prove that he can. And also because she is on the Lancaster side. Allying with her will make it easier for Richard to gather support for his own claim to the throne.
Why does Anne almost agree to marry Richard? This is a more complicated question. It depends on how we interpret the scene and her character. Some of the interpretations we proposed in class were the following:
- Anne is mourning: she is vulnerable and confused. Richard's proposal takes her by surprise. She doesn't know what
to say, so she stumbles through some vague words without making any definite commitment. She probably feels
threatened and alarmed by Richard's suicide attempts. She may just be trying to end the scene as fast as possible, without riling him up further, so she can get safely out of his presence.
- Anne has political instincts. She knows that her husband and father in law are dead. She cannot afford to offend the family that is now in power, the Yorks, no matter how much she hates them for killing her husband. Her responses to Richard are diplomatic ones, and she may be considering an alliance with him for political purposes.
- Anne's intense hatred for Richard turns into a kind of desire for him. This is the reading offered by Linda Charnes in her book Notorious Subjects.
The performer playing Anne must carve out an interpretation of the character that makes it plausible for her to come close to accepting Richard's proposal in a very short amount of time.
In Act I, Scene 2, Richard tries to persuade Lady Anne to marry him.
She is the daughter-in-law of the slain king Henry the Sixth.
Richard murdered her husband and her father-in-law.
Obviously, it is a huge challenge to persuade the widow of a man you've just killed to marry you.
Shakespeare is giving Richard III a very difficult task.
When the scene begins, Anne is mourning her father-in-law, and cursing his killer Richard in very strong language.
Within a very short scene, a scene that takes place over the dead body of the king (flashback to Loraux: display of
the corpse), Richard gets very close to receiving a "yes" from Anne. But remember: she doesn't give an official yes. She gives a qualified, hesitant maybe, couched in ambiguous language.
Richard: But shall I live in hope?
Anne: All men I hope live so.
Richard: Vouchsafe to wear this ring.
Anne: To take is not to give. (I.2.218-21)
Richard courts Anne very aggressively. He manipulates her. He offers her his sword
with which to kill him, making the ultimatum: "Take up the sword again / or take up me."
Why does Richard want to marry Anne? Perhaps to prove that he can. And also because she is on the Lancaster side. Allying with her will make it easier for Richard to gather support for his own claim to the throne.
Why does Anne almost agree to marry Richard? This is a more complicated question. It depends on how we interpret the scene and her character. Some of the interpretations we proposed in class were the following:
- Anne is mourning: she is vulnerable and confused. Richard's proposal takes her by surprise. She doesn't know what
to say, so she stumbles through some vague words without making any definite commitment. She probably feels
threatened and alarmed by Richard's suicide attempts. She may just be trying to end the scene as fast as possible, without riling him up further, so she can get safely out of his presence.
- Anne has political instincts. She knows that her husband and father in law are dead. She cannot afford to offend the family that is now in power, the Yorks, no matter how much she hates them for killing her husband. Her responses to Richard are diplomatic ones, and she may be considering an alliance with him for political purposes.
- Anne's intense hatred for Richard turns into a kind of desire for him. This is the reading offered by Linda Charnes in her book Notorious Subjects.
The performer playing Anne must carve out an interpretation of the character that makes it plausible for her to come close to accepting Richard's proposal in a very short amount of time.
3. CLARENCE'S DREAM
Poor Clarence. He believes that his brother Richard is on his side, when Richard is in fact the person who had him sent to the Tower.
He wakes up on the morning of his execution. He has had a dream. In the dream, he gets out of prison and sails for France with Richard. From the deck of the ship, they look back at England and think about the war. He is haunted by his wartime experiences, and one might potentially view this scene as a depiction of post-traumatic stress disorder. While they are walking on the deck, he thinks he sees Richard stumble, and he tries to catch him, but in trying to break his fall, Clarence himself is thrown overboard. He falls down to the bottom of the ocean where he hallucinates in some kind of state between life and death. This is clearly a dream that gives Clarence a premonition of Richard's betrayal, and of himself as a sacrifice to his brother's plot.
Clarence describes his dream to his jailkeeper in Act I, Scene 4, Lines 2-76.
Here is the part that concerns Richard:
Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower
And was embarked to cross to Burgandy,
And in my company my brother Gloucester,
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches. Thence we looked toward England
And cited up a thousand heavy times,
During the wars of York and Lancaster,
That had befall'n us. As we paced along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought that Gloucester stumbled, and in falling
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
O Lord, methought what pain it was to drown,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears,
What sights of ugly death within my eyes. (I.2.9-23)
Poor Clarence. He believes that his brother Richard is on his side, when Richard is in fact the person who had him sent to the Tower.
He wakes up on the morning of his execution. He has had a dream. In the dream, he gets out of prison and sails for France with Richard. From the deck of the ship, they look back at England and think about the war. He is haunted by his wartime experiences, and one might potentially view this scene as a depiction of post-traumatic stress disorder. While they are walking on the deck, he thinks he sees Richard stumble, and he tries to catch him, but in trying to break his fall, Clarence himself is thrown overboard. He falls down to the bottom of the ocean where he hallucinates in some kind of state between life and death. This is clearly a dream that gives Clarence a premonition of Richard's betrayal, and of himself as a sacrifice to his brother's plot.
Clarence describes his dream to his jailkeeper in Act I, Scene 4, Lines 2-76.
Here is the part that concerns Richard:
Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower
And was embarked to cross to Burgandy,
And in my company my brother Gloucester,
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches. Thence we looked toward England
And cited up a thousand heavy times,
During the wars of York and Lancaster,
That had befall'n us. As we paced along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought that Gloucester stumbled, and in falling
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
O Lord, methought what pain it was to drown,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears,
What sights of ugly death within my eyes. (I.2.9-23)
NOTES ON ACT 2
Act 2 opens with lavish gestures of peace-making. King Edward is trying to make everyone get along with each other, and to get everyone on the same team.
He is anxious about what will happen if he dies. He also seems a bit delusional about how easily differences can be settled.
Richard enters and pretends to get in on the making-up process. Then he delivers the news of Clarence's death. King Edward feels awful about his brother's death and wonders why the death sentence wasn't commuted in time (the answer: because Richard made sure that it wasn't). Richard acts sorry about Clarence's death too.
Enter Richard's mother, the Duchess of York, with Clarence's two children. The children have no idea that it was their uncle who killed their father, but Richard's mother seems to be on to him. She knows his character.
In Act 2, Scene 2, a distressed Queen Elizabeth delivers the news that King Edward is dead.
The family makes plans to get the young prince, Edward's son, crowned in London.
Richard pretends to go along with these plans but is actually making plans to subvert them.
While Elizabeth is working to bring the coronation about, she gets news that Richard, in league with Buckingham, has imprisoned two of her family members, Rivers and Grey, at Pomfret Tower. Queen Elizabeth panics with the words, "I see the ruin of my house!" and runs to hide out with her son.
Now things are just as shaky as they were during the war. There's no king on the throne, and Richard is plotting his next move.
Act 2 opens with lavish gestures of peace-making. King Edward is trying to make everyone get along with each other, and to get everyone on the same team.
He is anxious about what will happen if he dies. He also seems a bit delusional about how easily differences can be settled.
Richard enters and pretends to get in on the making-up process. Then he delivers the news of Clarence's death. King Edward feels awful about his brother's death and wonders why the death sentence wasn't commuted in time (the answer: because Richard made sure that it wasn't). Richard acts sorry about Clarence's death too.
Enter Richard's mother, the Duchess of York, with Clarence's two children. The children have no idea that it was their uncle who killed their father, but Richard's mother seems to be on to him. She knows his character.
In Act 2, Scene 2, a distressed Queen Elizabeth delivers the news that King Edward is dead.
The family makes plans to get the young prince, Edward's son, crowned in London.
Richard pretends to go along with these plans but is actually making plans to subvert them.
While Elizabeth is working to bring the coronation about, she gets news that Richard, in league with Buckingham, has imprisoned two of her family members, Rivers and Grey, at Pomfret Tower. Queen Elizabeth panics with the words, "I see the ruin of my house!" and runs to hide out with her son.
Now things are just as shaky as they were during the war. There's no king on the throne, and Richard is plotting his next move.
NOTES ON ACT 3
Scene I
The young Prince Edward, heir to the throne of Edward, enters, and Richard pretends to welcome him.
The Prince, who is clearly nervous and distrustful, says, with an allusion to Clarence's death, "I want more uncles here to welcome me" (III.1.6).
He wonders where his mother (Queen Elizabeth) and brother (the Duke of York) are.
He asks Richard where he is going to be staying, and Richard says he will be staying in The Tower. Richard describes the plan as though it's the Prince's own decision, and that he is just giving good advice for the Prince's safety and comfort. The Prince isn't excited about going to the Tower (the place where his uncle Clarence was executed).
Prince: Say, uncle Gloucester, if our brother come,
Where shall we sojourn till our coronation?
Richard: Where it seems best unto your royal self.
If I may counsel you, some day or two
Your highness shall repose you at the Tower;
Then where you please and shall be thought most fit
For your best health and recreation.
Prince: I do not like the Tower, of any place.--
Richard makes an aside to the audience indicating his plans to kill the Prince:
So wise so young, they say, do never live long. (II.1.80)
Scene 2
Hastings declares to Catesby that he will not support Richard's bid for the crown.
Scene 3
Queen Elizabeth's brother (Rivers), son (Grey) and Sir Thomas Vaughan are led away to be executed.
Scene 4
A group of lords meets to plan the Coronation of Prince Edward. When Richard learns that Hastings is not supporting his cause, he orders him to be executed. Hastings is led off to death.
Scene 5
"Richard and Buckingham excuse the summary execution of Hastings to the Mayor of London by staging an "uprising" that they blame on Hastings' treachery. Richard then sends Buckingham to persuade Londoners that the crown should be taken from the heirs of Edward IV and given to Richard. Buckingham is to claim that Edward IV himself was illegitimate, and that therefore Richard is the legitimate heir" (quoted from Folger edition p. 166).
Here is Richard setting up the illegitimacy story:
Tell them when that my mother went with child
Of that insatiate Edward, noble York
My princely father then had wars in France,
And, by true computation of the time,
Found that the issue was not his begot"
Richard ends with a request that the story be circulated discreetly, "Because, my lord, you know my mother lives" (2.5.96).
The scene ends with Richard telling the audience how he is going to lock up Clarence's children and the two Princes:
Now will I go to take some privy order
To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight,
And to give order that no manner person
Have any time recourse unto the Princes. (V.5.109-112)
Scene 6
"The professional scribe who has just finished transcribing Hastings' indictment shows how the charge against Hastings had been prepared and the transcribing begun long before Hastings had even been accused or arrested" (quoted from the Folger edition p. 174). In other words, it was a false charge that Richard had planned all along. This scene further underlines the illegitimacy of Richard's takeover.
Scene 7
"Richard and Buckingham, having failed to persuade London's officials and citizens that Richard should be king, stage a scene of Richard's great piety. Richard 'yields' to the mayor's plea that Richard accept the kingship" (quoted from the Folger edition p. 176). In other words, Richard pretends to have found religion and acts like he has no interest in the throne whatsoever.
They stage a little drama in which Buckingham beseeches him to take the crown and eventually Richard yields, saying "I am not made of stones" (III.7.227).
They agree to crown Richard the next day.
Scene I
The young Prince Edward, heir to the throne of Edward, enters, and Richard pretends to welcome him.
The Prince, who is clearly nervous and distrustful, says, with an allusion to Clarence's death, "I want more uncles here to welcome me" (III.1.6).
He wonders where his mother (Queen Elizabeth) and brother (the Duke of York) are.
He asks Richard where he is going to be staying, and Richard says he will be staying in The Tower. Richard describes the plan as though it's the Prince's own decision, and that he is just giving good advice for the Prince's safety and comfort. The Prince isn't excited about going to the Tower (the place where his uncle Clarence was executed).
Prince: Say, uncle Gloucester, if our brother come,
Where shall we sojourn till our coronation?
Richard: Where it seems best unto your royal self.
If I may counsel you, some day or two
Your highness shall repose you at the Tower;
Then where you please and shall be thought most fit
For your best health and recreation.
Prince: I do not like the Tower, of any place.--
Richard makes an aside to the audience indicating his plans to kill the Prince:
So wise so young, they say, do never live long. (II.1.80)
Scene 2
Hastings declares to Catesby that he will not support Richard's bid for the crown.
Scene 3
Queen Elizabeth's brother (Rivers), son (Grey) and Sir Thomas Vaughan are led away to be executed.
Scene 4
A group of lords meets to plan the Coronation of Prince Edward. When Richard learns that Hastings is not supporting his cause, he orders him to be executed. Hastings is led off to death.
Scene 5
"Richard and Buckingham excuse the summary execution of Hastings to the Mayor of London by staging an "uprising" that they blame on Hastings' treachery. Richard then sends Buckingham to persuade Londoners that the crown should be taken from the heirs of Edward IV and given to Richard. Buckingham is to claim that Edward IV himself was illegitimate, and that therefore Richard is the legitimate heir" (quoted from Folger edition p. 166).
Here is Richard setting up the illegitimacy story:
Tell them when that my mother went with child
Of that insatiate Edward, noble York
My princely father then had wars in France,
And, by true computation of the time,
Found that the issue was not his begot"
Richard ends with a request that the story be circulated discreetly, "Because, my lord, you know my mother lives" (2.5.96).
The scene ends with Richard telling the audience how he is going to lock up Clarence's children and the two Princes:
Now will I go to take some privy order
To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight,
And to give order that no manner person
Have any time recourse unto the Princes. (V.5.109-112)
Scene 6
"The professional scribe who has just finished transcribing Hastings' indictment shows how the charge against Hastings had been prepared and the transcribing begun long before Hastings had even been accused or arrested" (quoted from the Folger edition p. 174). In other words, it was a false charge that Richard had planned all along. This scene further underlines the illegitimacy of Richard's takeover.
Scene 7
"Richard and Buckingham, having failed to persuade London's officials and citizens that Richard should be king, stage a scene of Richard's great piety. Richard 'yields' to the mayor's plea that Richard accept the kingship" (quoted from the Folger edition p. 176). In other words, Richard pretends to have found religion and acts like he has no interest in the throne whatsoever.
They stage a little drama in which Buckingham beseeches him to take the crown and eventually Richard yields, saying "I am not made of stones" (III.7.227).
They agree to crown Richard the next day.
Notes on Act 4
All of the women unite against Richard-- Anne, the Duchess of York, Elizabeth, etc. They are denied access to the Princes in the tower.
Anne is depicted as not supporting Richard's takeover of power and saying she would rather die than be Richard's queen.
She explains her marriage in terms of her "woman's heart" which "grossly grew captive to his honey words" (IV.i.83-84).
Elizabeth mourns and worries for her sons in the Tower.
Richard tells Buckingham he wants the Princes dead. Buckingham stalls.
Richard hires a hit man named Tyrell instead.
Richard is losing his hold on Buckingham and on Stanley (who is married to Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Richmond (Henry Tudor,
who will become Henry VII when he defeats Richard)
Richard wants to marry off Clarence's daughter to a nobody so that she has no chance of making a claim for the throne with a prominent husband.
Richard wants to marry Elizabeth. He circulates a rumor that Anne is sick and dying.
Richard shows ingratitude to Buckingham, further estranging him.
Tyrell comes in an announces the murder of the Princes (an interesting scene-- also interesting to compare with the
scene of Clarence's executioners).
Richard asserts desire to marry Elizabeth of York (daughter of Elizabeth and Edward).
Richard gets news that Buckingham and others have deserted his cause.
Elizabeth hears about the murder of the Princes and mourns.
Richard's own mother, the Duchess of York, curses him (ie. his own mother hates him).
Richard asks Elizabeth for her daughter's hand in marriage. This scene echoes the seduction of Anne, only now
Richard is courting by proxy (the mother of the bride) rather than the bride herself.
He tries his same old trick of "Say I did all the murders for her sake..."
She agrees to do it, and he shows the same contempt for her that he did for Anne after she half-agreed to marry him.
Richard asks Stanley to leave his son behind to ensure his loyalty.
The Duke of Buckingham's revolt fails.
Richmond is landing to challenge Richard. His forces are on the way.
Notes on Act 5
All of the women unite against Richard-- Anne, the Duchess of York, Elizabeth, etc. They are denied access to the Princes in the tower.
Anne is depicted as not supporting Richard's takeover of power and saying she would rather die than be Richard's queen.
She explains her marriage in terms of her "woman's heart" which "grossly grew captive to his honey words" (IV.i.83-84).
Elizabeth mourns and worries for her sons in the Tower.
Richard tells Buckingham he wants the Princes dead. Buckingham stalls.
Richard hires a hit man named Tyrell instead.
Richard is losing his hold on Buckingham and on Stanley (who is married to Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Richmond (Henry Tudor,
who will become Henry VII when he defeats Richard)
Richard wants to marry off Clarence's daughter to a nobody so that she has no chance of making a claim for the throne with a prominent husband.
Richard wants to marry Elizabeth. He circulates a rumor that Anne is sick and dying.
Richard shows ingratitude to Buckingham, further estranging him.
Tyrell comes in an announces the murder of the Princes (an interesting scene-- also interesting to compare with the
scene of Clarence's executioners).
Richard asserts desire to marry Elizabeth of York (daughter of Elizabeth and Edward).
Richard gets news that Buckingham and others have deserted his cause.
Elizabeth hears about the murder of the Princes and mourns.
Richard's own mother, the Duchess of York, curses him (ie. his own mother hates him).
Richard asks Elizabeth for her daughter's hand in marriage. This scene echoes the seduction of Anne, only now
Richard is courting by proxy (the mother of the bride) rather than the bride herself.
He tries his same old trick of "Say I did all the murders for her sake..."
She agrees to do it, and he shows the same contempt for her that he did for Anne after she half-agreed to marry him.
Richard asks Stanley to leave his son behind to ensure his loyalty.
The Duke of Buckingham's revolt fails.
Richmond is landing to challenge Richard. His forces are on the way.
Notes on Act 5
