Questions on
Shakespeare’s History Plays
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. Quarto. (The Norton Shakespeare: Histories, 3rd ed. 384-465.)
ACT 1
1. In Act 1, Scene 1, Richard begins the play with his remarkable “Now is the winter of our discontent” soliloquy (speech delivered by the character while alone, addressing only him- or herself and the audience). How does he represent himself in this passage—how does he characterize his own nature and ambitions, the times in which he lives, and his powerful relatives?
2. In Act 1, Scene 1, Richard soon meets his first “mark” or intended victim, his brother Clarence, and then briefly converses with Hastings. In these passages and again when he is alone with his thoughts, what opinion does he apparently hold of such men? How does he manage their expectations for the immediate future as well as their perception of him? At base, how does Richard present himself to his interlocutors?
3. In Act 1, Scene 2, Richard woos, and wins, Anne Neville (daughter of Richard Neville; i.e., “Warwick the Kingmaker”), who mourns Henry VI and his son Edward Prince of Wales, to whom she was betrothed. Richard, by his own admission, is complicit in these men’s deaths. How does he go about the delicate task of winning over Anne? By what stages does he proceed with the wooing of this woman who rightly hates him? What accounts for Richard’s success?
4. Act 1, Scene 2 is taken up with Richard’s strange courting of Anne Neville, as mentioned in the previous question. Every generation of viewers and readers has surely recognized (along with the playwright and Richard) how remarkably implausible this whole scene is. Yet it seems quite effective, doesn’t it? How, then, does Shakespeare manage this preposterous courtship scene and emerge with dramatic gold, so to speak? What does Richard himself say about his performance once he is out of Anne’s earshot?
5. In Act 1, Scene 3, The Yorkist royal dysfunctional family gather at the Palace in Westminster and promptly fall to vicious bickering amongst themselves. What are some of their complaints? In particular, what is the argument between Queen Elizabeth Woodville and Richard (“Gloucester”)? And how does Queen Margaret (Henry VI’s tough, embittered widow and mother of the slain heir apparent Prince Edward) reproach Queen Elizabeth Woodville as well as Richard. What warning does she make to Buckingham about Richard? On the whole, how does Richard, in his own defense, represent himself to others in this scene?
6. To conclude Act 1, Scene 3, Richard treats us to another soliloquy. What does he reveal about his motives and methods regarding the people he has just been wrangling with and manipulating? There are five such soliloquys in the first act alone. Obviously, Richard’s revelations remove much of the surprise or “dramatic tension” that might otherwise accompany the play’s events, so what is the payoff for Shakespeare’s including these moments? What impact do they have on your own feelings about Richard and on your understanding of the play’s events and characters?
7. In Act 1, Scene 4, Clarence, about to be murdered by a pair of thugs on the order of Richard, offers a starkly beautiful rendition of his uneasy dream—what happens in that dream? What does it reveal to him? To us? To what extent does this scene (including Clarence’s interaction with his killers) generate real sympathy for him, and to what degree do his remarks more generally suggest his complicity in the less savory side of power politics?
8. In Act 1, Scene 4, the two Executioners (i.e. murderers) engage in an extended and somewhat comical discussion before they set about killing Clarence. What is the subject of their conversation, and how do they settle their disagreement? Richard had warned them not to talk to Clarence. Do they follow this advice when it comes time to kill him? What effect does Clarence’s attempt to argue with his killers have on them?
ACT 2
9. In Act 2, Scene 1, what figure does the soon-to-be-departed Edward IV, Richard’s Yorkist elder brother, cut? Why is Edward presently so concerned to reconcile his family and closest peers—what is he expecting to happen soon, and what does he expect from those closest to him? What self-analysis is the King driven to when Richard deftly undercuts him with the news that Clarence is, in fact, dead?
10. In Act 2, Scene 2, the Duchess of York, Queen Elizabeth, and Clarence’s children take turns lamenting the respective objects of their grief. How does the Duchess of York assert a kind of dominance over these proceedings? Why does she insist that her sorrow is greater than theirs? Still, to what extent is the grief expressed in this scene genuine, and the scene at least somewhat effective as an expression of sorrow?
11. In Act 2, Scene 3, three citizens air their thoughts and anxieties about Edward IV’s death and what is to come. What does this chorus of citizens (especially the Third Citizen) apparently think of the great events and noble actors to which they are partly witness? What are their fears and expectations for the near future?
12. In Act 2, Scene 4, the news is brought to Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of York that while Prince Edward is on his way to the Palace, Richard and Buckingham have ordered Lords Rivers and Gray committed to Pomfret Castle along with Sir Thomas Vaughan. What analysis does Queen Elizabeth make of this news—what does she think it portends for her and her family? What reflection does the same news spur in the Duchess of York?
ACT 3
13. In Act 3, Scene 1, describe the exchange between the young Prince Edward and Richard as well as the exchange between little York and Richard. How does Prince Edward size up his current situation as heir to the throne? Why might Edward’s observations about “truth” and reputation disturb his Uncle Richard? What annoys Richard about how his nephew York (Edward’s little brother) treats him?
14. In Act 3, Scene 1, political machinations are going on even as Richard, Buckingham, Lord Hastings and the Cardinal greet and banter with the young princes. What key matters about the developing plot are addressed by Richard and the other adults? What plans is he laying to usurp the throne from the rightful heir?
15. In Act 3, Scenes 2-3, how is Lord Hastings set up for his execution in Scene 4? What does he think of his prospects at this point? How does he react to the undoing of his enemies? What does he say in response to the messenger who tells him about Lord Stanley’s ominous dream? What makes his response ironic, given Clarence’s dream in Act 1, Scene 4 and in light of what Richard told us in his opening soliloquy about the role of “drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams” in his scheme to steal the crown?
16. In Act 3, Scene 4, in a meeting ostensibly to discuss matters pertaining to the coronation, what piece of stagecraft does Richard contrive with Buckingham to get rid of the troublesome Hastings? What is the further point of this brief drama—what does Richard accomplish thereby? What does Hastings come to understand that he didn’t before?
17. In Act 3, Scene 5, how do Richard and Buckingham talk the Mayor of London into accepting their version of events surrounding Hastings and his sudden execution? Is it clear that the Mayor accepts their claims in earnest? Or is it more likely that he is only saying that he does? Why, in your view, might such a public and political figure accept, or seem to accept, what appears to us a transparently insincere and implausible justification of murder?
18. In Act 3, Scene 6, the Scrivener enters with an indictment of the condemned Hastings. How does this ordinary fellow analyze the nature of the great events taking place in his midst? What lies at the root of the problem, as far as he is concerned? How might this brief scene cause us to reflect back to Act 3, Scene 5, in which the Lord Mayor of London professed to be entirely convinced by Richard and Buckingham’s lies?
19. In Act 3, Scene 7, analyze the “theatrics” of the episode in which Buckingham and Richard make a show of the latter’s alleged reluctance to accept the crown. What reasons does Buckingham employ to advance the cause of Richard’s acceptance, and what reasons does Richard give in feigning to decline it? What logic or assumptions about power and about the audience underlie this piece of political theater?
ACT 4
20. In Act 4, Scene 1, three of the play’s women (Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville, and the Duchess of York) gather to discuss their plight. How does each describe her woeful situation? How does Anne, once briefly married to Edward IV’s heir, explain her acceptance of Richard’s unseemly offer of marriage, and how does she view that acceptance now that she is called upon by Lord Stanley to go and participate in Richard’s coronation as king?
21. In Act 4, Scene 2, Richard hastens to consolidate his power, and even as he orders Catesby to arrange disadvantageous marriages for Clarence’s children and isolate Anne Neville preparatory to eliminating her, the first order of business is to ensure the murder of the princes in the Tower. This imperative leads Richard to draw Buckingham into the plot. How does Buckingham react to the new King’s demand, and how does Richard take Buckingham’s halting response and brazen demands? What reflections does Richard engage in concerning his position and, more broadly, the nature of sin itself?
22. In Act 4, Scenes 2-3, Richard successfully enlists Sir James Tyrrel to contract for the killing of the princes in the Tower. In Scene 2, how does Tyrrel respond to this entreaty from the newly crowned King? And in Scene 3, in what manner does Tyrrel relate to us, the audience, the details of the murders, and then satisfy Richard’s need to know that the deed has been done? What are Richard’s thoughts now that the princes are out of the way—what will he do next, and why?
23. In Act 4, Scene 4, Henry VI’s widow Queen Margaret (who, incidentally, could not have taken part in the kind of scene here depicted since she died in France in August of 1482, before Richard became king) unleashes her extreme bitterness against Queen Elizabeth (widow of Edward IV) and Richard’s mother the Duchess of York. What accusations or grievances does Margaret level against these two women? All the same, what understanding do the three of them share regarding their difficult position as aristocratic women in a world of dynastic intrigue? What advice (if one can call it that) does Margaret ultimately offer the newly powerless Elizabeth?
24. In Act 4, Scene 4, the Duchess of York (Cecily Neville), having just been thoroughly railed at by Queen Margaret, now curses her own son Richard III. How does she describe what Richard has meant to her from the time of his birth to the present? With what terrible curse does she saddle this troublesome son? What effect do her words seem to have upon Richard?
25. In Act 4, Scene 4, what logical and rhetorical means does Richard employ to try to win over Edward IV’s widowed Queen Elizabeth to his desire for the hand of her daughter Princess Elizabeth in marriage? How does the former Queen respond to him—what are her concerns about Richard’s intentions and her own safety along with the wellbeing of her daughter? Why does she ultimately give in—or at least claim that she will do as Richard has importuned her to do?
26. In the final section of Act 4, Scene 4, King Richard’s presence becomes the locus of a great whirl of information. What do Ratcliffe, Catesby, Lord Stanley, and four Messengers bring to Richard by way of good news and bad? How does Richard receive this information—does he seem to be operating at peak capacity, or is he “off his game” in handling the difficult military and political situation he now confronts? Explain.
ACT 5
27. In Act 5, Scene 1, the captured Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, passes sentence against himself in somewhat medieval fashion as he goes to the executioner’s block. How does he characterize the actions that have led him to this doom, and to what motives does he ascribe his misdeeds? Since we are unlikely suddenly to feel great sympathy for such a vain and wicked character now that his downfall has come, what seems to be the dramatic purpose of this kind of summing-up?
28. In Act 5, Scenes 2-3, Henry, Earl of Richmond and King Richard III first spend time making last-minute preparations for battle and addressing their high-ranking supporters, after which they take their rest. Up to just before the point at which Richard’s terrible dream is recounted, what state of mind does each leader appear to be in on this eve of their fateful meeting in war? What contrast appears between them, judging by their words and actions?
29. In Act 5, Scene 3, as Richard sleeps, the ghosts of all those whom he has sent to their deaths surround him and haunt him with a recounting of what he did to them. What psychological effect do their accounts and curses have on Richard as he emerges from this nightmare? Richard’s anguished speech at 459, 5.3.175-204 (beginning “Give me another horse!”) has sometimes been panned as a bad attempt at rendering a major character’s interiority, but be that as it may, what does the speech suggest about Richard’s true feelings on the eve of battle?
30. In Act 5, Scene 3, Henry, Earl of Richmond speaks confidently to his common soldiers (see “His oration to his soldiers” at 461, 5.3.235-68), while King Richard appears to recover his composure, speaking audaciously first to the lords around him and then in a set-piece oration to his army at 462, 5.3.312-39. Characterize the quality of these “pep-talks” on the part of Henry and Richard: to what extent does each seem confident and appropriate to the circumstances? Which man, if either, comes off sounding more like an imminent victor, and why? Explain.
31. In Act 5, Scenes 4-5, what account is given both of Richard’s fighting spirit and his end? How, that is, does Richard conduct himself during the Battle of Bosworth, up to and including his death? In what sense is his comportment at the end characteristic of his life? What future does Henry, Earl of Richmond (soon to become the first Tudor monarch Henry VII) lay out as the play concludes?
32. Do some research on the Internet or using print sources and set down what you can find about Richard’s character as modern historians represent it, or as it appears on websites devoted to Richard III. (The Richard III Society is one such website.) What opinions seem prevalent today with regard to whether Richard really ordered the deaths of the Princes in the Tower, and whether he was as evil and manipulative as the Tudor historians claimed he was? What do you think—how true, or false, does Shakespeare’s portrait of King Richard III ring to you, and why?
Edition. Greenblatt, Stephen et al., editors. The Norton Shakespeare: Histories + Digital Edition. 3rd ed. W. W. Norton, 2016. ISBN-13: 978-0-393-93859-3.
Copyright © 2012, revised 2024 Alfred J. Drake