Richard III
“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”(1.1.29-32).Richard was mad about his deformity, and could not, because his deformity, find a suitable partner. So he proved a villain.
He wanted to be king, whatever it takes he would: murder, manipulate, use allies, marry in order to gain political substance. And he has a companion called Buckingham who later betrays him because Richard has become the Devil walking on Earth. And if anyone is even a little bit against him he will murder them. In the play it shows us that Richard likes playing a different role than in private, it’s like he’s a different person when he is in public, because he does these soliloquy when he talks to the audience and shares his thoughts, then you can see his villainy, but when he’s talking to people he’s a different person. His manipulation has just started. He first manipulated lady Anne by wanting to marry her, and of course killed her husband and father and at this point he begins to shape her thoughts and feeling, he weeps and says that he killed them because of her, and that she is so beautiful that he could not resist, and that it’s her fault.
Then he unsheathes his sword and says she can either kill or marry him, that sort of thing gives us an overview of his villainy. Then he killed lord Hastings, who was an ally to Richard, but he didn’t think he was fit for the crown, he believed that the true heir to the crown were the two princes. He invited Hastings to dinner, Hastings knew that he was going to die. Hastings gets killed, and then he’s out of the way. The king is very sick; therefore, he dies, then the two princes are in line for the throne. There was one problem with that, they were too young.
And he immediately goes to manipulate the mayor, who later calls him to be elected king. He knows now he is very close. He brings two religious men with him, which in those times represent a lot of importance. And he doesn’t want to appear like this crown hungry evil person. He wants the people to elect him, by saying no and that he is not fit for the crown, the crowd and mayor say he must, then he accepts.
And when they leave, he bursts into laughter like the Devil has just slain all life on Earth. For some time he enjoyed the title of king, murdering, manipulating, making people suffer, he didn’t need lady Anne so he killed her. But in France there was someone wanting to kill Richard, Richmond who was making an army quietly. Richard then gets mad at Buckingham, his faithful companion, and Buckingham runs to Richmond to join in the battle. Lord Stanley is another man with Richmond but he must listen to Richard or he will kill his son. Then Richmond makes a move, going to England, messengers flood, buzzing to Richard like flies warning him about what’s coming.
He later then prepares his men, and by now almost everyone knows that he killed Hastings and the two princes, goes to sleep. Richmond and Richard get whispers from the people Richard killed, the princes, Hastings, the Gray family, Anne and so on. They curse Richard and prepare Richmond for battle. Richard is in shock, every little thing that he did in his life is coming back to him, while Richmond wakes up ready for the final fight. Then they meet by the castle, the fight i on, lord Stanley is not with Richard, he risked his son’s life, but it was too late. Richard’s horse is dead, so he fights on foot, which costs him his life.
He gets killed by Richmond and falls to the ground powerless. “God and your arms be praised, victorious friends,/The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead ” (5.5.3888-3889). Richard is killed and Richmond takes the crown, because the real heir to the throne is dead by the hand of Richard, Richmond becomes Henry VII. And that is the end of Richard with his murders and manipulations.
He has come a long way to become king, and them be killed like a worthless rat in the gutter.
