Richard III- A History

"The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What do I fear? Myself? There’s none else by.Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I. Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am.Then fly! What, from myself? Great reason. Why: Lest I revenge. Myself upon myself?Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any good, That I myself have done unto myself? O no, alas, I rather hate myself. For hateful deeds committed by myself. I am a villain." (V.v.134–145)

This passage is recited by Richard immediately after his visit with the ghosts of those he has murdered. This is a huge turning point in the novel because it is the first time that Richard reveals any trace of self-doubt and even self-loathing. In an attempt to calm himself after this unsettling dream, he states, "There's no one else by," to convince himself that he is alone with himself. However, it is in this passage that Richard realizes that he is the worst person he can be alone with. The grief that is invisible until this point in the novel is revealed, exposing Richard's weaknesses. Similarly to Macbeth, death meets the main characters when they become vulnerable to destructive emotions, such as guilt. For this reason, this passage can be viewed as foreshadowing for Richard's ultimate defeat. The diction in this paragraph parallels Richard's feeling of self-loathing. The lights are described as "blue," would is a color generally associated with cold. The lights are "cold" just as Richard is realizing that his heart is "cold." The sweat on his body is described as "cold" and "fearful," two words that can be used to describes Richard's feelings toward himself and the upcoming battle. "Dead" is used to describe midnight, which is foreshadowing for his near death and defeat. In this passage, Richard poses questions to himself and answers these questions. He even begins referring to himself in first-person. This signifies the complexity of Richard's character. The audience is taught from Richard's monologue at the beginning of the play that he has evil intentions but has a special talent for being able to hide his deceitful side from those involved in his plan to become king. This description of Richard remains consistent throughout the novel until this point. The questions posed to himself and the way in which he refers to himself in the first-person narration show not only Richard's insecurity, but the presence of his dual personality. A moral is also presented in this passage when Richard states: "Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any good, That I myself have done unto myself? O no, alas, I rather hate myself." A person cannot love themselves for solely the good that they have done for themselves. A person can only truly be happy with themselves when they have done good to others.

Shakespeare combined historical fact with literary fiction to create this history. This story is also part tragedy. In order to successfully create a historical tragedy, Shakespeare uses historical figures but exaggerates their emotions and actions, and creates his own relationships between character. For example, Shakespeare used some artistic creativity to create the deceitful Richard and the easily wooed Lady Anne. Additionally Shakespeare incorporated aspects of history that people can relate to in modern times. For example, the scenes with the townspeople expressing doubts about Richard, their new leader, is something very likely to happen today (as if no one has ever complained about President George Bush). As outrageous as Lady Anne's change in emotion toward Richard may have been, many people can relate to her today. If a person experiences loss, they are more likely to quickly find and cling to a companion, whether it be a romantic companion or not. The royal family tree that Shakespeare used to create this play becomes a vital asset to fully understanding the play. Shakespeare chose to write this story about a man who is in a position where he is very unlikely to be king. In order to become king he must first kill the king, the prince, and the prince's children. Shakespeare's choice of using Richard who is "land-locked" in his non-royal position, adds the historical element of the family tree. While the family tree was confusing, it added an interesting part of history.

I enjoyed this play, however in numerous instances I found myself being confused by the complexity of the family tree. Not knowing anything about English history, it was certainly difficult to follow the relationships. My favorite scene was the dream sequence which plants guilt in Richard. I thought the scene was cleverly done and very effective since the line of ghosts is so very long. Similarly to "Macbeth", I liked how Shakespeare uses guilt as the ultimate demise of his main characters. This shows that the human mind is capable of creating more evil than human deeds can. I found it to be comical (not laugh out loud funny, but worth a smile funny) that Richard was so flawless in deceit. From the opening monologue when he informs the audience of his plans he immediately changes his attitude to speak with other characters in the play. It is almost as though Richard and the audience have a connection that the characters on stage do not have because the audience is the only group of people who are fully aware of every bit of Richard's scheme. This connection with the audience is very effective because it is almost as though the actors and the audience have an agreement with each other that they will pretend that everything that happens on stage is real, similarly to "A Midsummer Night's Dream." This agreement makes the morals of the play more effective.