Richard III: The Villain Who Explains Himself
First appears: Act 1, Scene 1
Richard opens the play alone onstage, telling the audience exactly who he is and what he plans to do. He is deformed ('rudely stamp'd,' 'curtail'd of fair proportion') and he has decided that since he cannot be a lover, he will be a villain. This is not psychology. It is a comedy routine. He is inviting you to enjoy the plot with him.
The seduction of Lady Anne in Act 1 Scene 2, over the corpse of the king her husband killed, is one of the most audacious scenes in Shakespeare. He woos her in front of her father-in-law's body, offers his own throat to her sword, and by the end of the scene she has agreed to see him again. He is astonished by it himself: 'Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?'
By Act 4 his plan has worked completely, and this is where the play changes. Richard without obstacles is Richard without fun. The nightmare before Bosworth (ghosts of everyone he has killed) strips the comedy away. He wakes alone, frightened, and says: 'I am a villain.' He has known this from the first line. It lands differently at the end.
Key Scenes
Famous Quotes
“Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York.”
Richard III — Act 1, Scene 1
“I am determined to prove a villain.”
Richard III — Act 1, Scene 1
“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”
Richard III — Act 5, Scene 4
Themes
Other Characters in Richard III
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