Richard III – The Devil Incarnate?
Comments(1) In Act I and II, there is no mistaking that Richard is evil or has evil tendencies. At the onset of the play, in his monologue, Richard outlines his plans to the audience, he states, “I am determined to prove a villain/And hate the idle pleasures of these days” (1.1.30). Based on the reading assignment for this blog, I would say, readers will most likely have a dislike for Richard, but with any Shakespearean play a character can start off one way then turn into another by the end of the play, so Richard as the “devil incarnate” may still be up for debate.
Hmm… I guess I can continue to write about Richard, but what really peaks my interest is the women of the play. Lady Anne, Queen Margaret, and the Duchess of York, to name a few, who know exactly how evil Richard is, and confronts him, even calls him names, but yet he continues on with his plans. Do what women say not have any weight in this play, or better yet, during this period of time?
I’m somewhat mystified by the fact that the voices of the women go unheard, by the other characters in the play. Are the women just there to warn us of what is to come? Lady Anne calls Richard, the Devil or “fiend,” and accuses him of killing her husband and father, yet she accepts his ring (but that’s a whole other topic, which I’m sure we will discuss in class). Queen Margaret warns Buckingham, “Look when he fawns, he bites; and when he bites,/His venom tooth will rankle to the death” (1.3.296). Unfortunately, we find out later in Act II that Buckingham is conspiring with Richard. Even Richard’s own mother, the Duchess, has less kind words to say about him, “He is my son, ay, and therein my shame;/Yet from my dugs he grew not this deceit” (2.2.49). I’m anxious to see how this all “plays” out.
Another interesting aspect of the play is in Act II Scene iii, where we are privy to the thoughts of the citizens who, by the way, seem to know exactly how things go. Their lives are affected by the turmoil going on in the kingdom, and their “hearts are full of fear” over what is to come.
To respond to your question about the women in the play: It seems like rhetoric is prized highly in this royal circle, as is the case in most other literature dealing with nobility. This can be seen in Richard’s warnings to the murderers to “be sudden in the execution…For Clarence is well spoken and may move your hearts to pity if you mark him,” (1.3.346) as well as in how Richard woos Lady Anne against all common logic. It seems like all the women in the play actually do is precisely what you said in your post: call him names and say outright what they know he’s up to. Unfortunately, his power of rhetoric along with his charm has gained him an ally in Buckingham and a deceiving mask for him to wear when he associates himself with family and other nobility, allowing him to get away with his plan thus far in the play. Whether he ultimately does remains to be seen.