Summary

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a brilliant, physically deformed schemer, manipulates, murders, and betrays his way to the English throne. He eliminates his brother Clarence, seduces Lady Anne over her husband's corpse, has the young princes smothered in the Tower, and crowns himself king. But his reign crumbles as allies defect, ghosts haunt his sleep, and Henry Richmond raises an army. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, Richard dies fighting, and the Tudor dynasty begins.

Themes & Motifs

Diction & Style

Key Characters

Talking Points

1. How does Richard's opening soliloquy establish a relationship of complicity between the villain and the audience? What are the dramatic consequences of this relationship throughout the play?
2. Analyze the seduction of Lady Anne in Act One, Scene Two. How does Richard use rhetorical strategy to overcome Anne's grief and moral outrage? What does the scene reveal about the power of language?
3. Discuss the role of performance and theatricality in Richard III. How does Richard use the techniques of an actor and director to seize political power?
4. How does Shakespeare present the relationship between physical disability and moral character in Richard III? Is the play's treatment of disability an essential part of its meaning or a problematic element that modern readers should critique?
5. Compare and contrast the Anne seduction scene in Act One with the Elizabeth confrontation in Act Four. What has changed in Richard's rhetorical power, and what does this shift reveal about the play's structure?

Notable Quotes