PLOT SUMMARY FOR RICHARD III
Principal Characters
Richard begins as the Duke of Gloucester and later becomes King Richard III. He was the youngest of three York brothers who were active in English politics in the latter part of the 1400’s. In King Henry VI, Part 3, the previous play in the tetralogy (four plays grouped together), Richard had emerged as a kind of hatchet-man for the cause of the York family in their struggle over the throne with the Lancaster family, a 30 year struggle known as “The War of the Roses.” At the end of that play he revealed himself to be a Machiavellian villain who would stop at nothing to take the crown for himself. He is usually described as misshapen and monstrous in appearance, as if his outward appearance was a reflection of his evil mind.
Edward IV was the eldest of the three York brothers. When their father was killed in battle with the forces of Lancaster, Edward became the York claimant to the English throne. After a series of violent battles, and with the support of a powerful nobleman, the Earl of Warwick, he was victorious and crowned king in 1461. He was a strong king with serious personal problems. He impulsively married a widow, Elizabeth Woodville, which cost him the support of Warwick, who then went over to the Lancaster side. Throughout their marriage King Edward favored her family, her brother and sons by her previous marriage, often at the expense of others who had supported the York cause. Edward’s long affair with Jane Shore left him open to charges that she influenced his decisions. Edward was accused of having had a wife previously, so that the legitimacy of his children by Elizabeth Woodville was called into question by the scheming Richard when he seeks to supplant them following Edward’s death.
George, Duke of Clarence as the middle York brother. In Henry VI, Part 1 Clarence had joined with Warwick in opposition to the king’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville and had fought against the York cause. Although he later did a triple cause and helped Edward defeat Warwick, relations between the two oldest York brothers were never peaceful. Richard will exploit the tension between them to eliminate his brother Clarence.
William, Lord Hastings had served as chamberlain, chief of staff, for King Edward IV. Despite his position he opposed the rise of the Woodville family after the king’s marriage. When Edward dies, Hastings continues to serve Richard while insisting that Edward’s son must be made king. Richard has him executed.
Henry, Duke of Buckingham emerges as a powerful figure during Richard’s struggle for the throne. He becomes a second Warwick, a maker of kings, and helps Richard seize the crown. Once he is in power Richard discards him.
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond becomes the heir of the Lancaster cause following the deaths of King Henry VI and his son, the Prince of Wales. Richmond, as he referred to throughout the play, was only indirectly related to the royal family because his grandmother had been the widow of King Henry V. At the beginning of the play he is in exile in Brittany in Northern France with little hope of ever returning to his native land. However, during the chaos that follows Richard’s seizing of the throne, Richmond raises an army and returns to champion all those who oppose Richard’s tyranny. After killing Richard at the battle of Bosworth, Richmond is crowned King Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings. He married King Edward’s daughter, linking the York and Lancaster families and ending the War of the Roses. Shakespeare’s audience saw in this figure, Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather, the savior of their country from the chaos of the 1400’s.
Queen Margaret was the wife of King Henry VI. A strong-willed woman, she actually commanded the armies of the Lancaster cause for many years. She hates the York brothers who have murdered both her husband and her son, the Prince of Wales.
Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV was originally a member of a minor family of the nobility, the Woodvilles. The fortunes of that family are led by Lord Rivers, her brother, and the Marquis of Dorset and Lord Grey, two adult sons of the queen by a previous marriage. By King Edward she has two sons, both of whom Richard imprisons in the Tower of London and has murdered, and a daughter, whom Richard will seek to marry but who ends up as the wife of Richmond and the next queen of England. Richard will accuse Queen Elizabeth of being a shallow, weak-willed woman, but she manages to survive his brutal reign.
Lady Anne was the daughter of the powerful noble the Earl of Warwick, nicknamed the Kingmaker, who made Edward king and then sought to overthrow him in favor of Henry VI. Anne’s father, her husband (the Prince of Wales) and her father-in-law had all been killed by the York brothers. Despite this, Richard seeks to marry her because of royal connections to the Lancaster cause, her relationship with Warwick and her wealth.
The Duchess of York is the mother of the York Brothers whose husband, the original Duke of York, had been murdered by Queen Margaret. The Duchess is the first person in the play to realize the extent of her son Richard’s evil.
Synopsis of the Plot
Act I
With victory against the forces of the Lancaster cause, Richard determines to gain the throne occupied by his brother, Edward IV. He first manages to aggravate the tension between his two brothers until Edward imprisons Clarence in the Tower of London for alleged treason. Next Richard seduces Lady Anne, whose husband, father and father-in-law he had helped to kill. With her wealth and royal connections he is in a stronger position. He also convinces Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain, and Buckingham, a powerful duke, that Edward’s queen and her family have caused Clarence’s imprisonment and other problems. Then Richard arranges for Clarence to be murdered.
Act II
Richard joins with other members of the court in piously pledging to the dying King Edward that he will end the factional hostility. Then he reveals that Clarence has been killed while in custody and asserts that it was done with the king’s authority and at the connivance of the queen and her relatives. The news helps hasten Edward’s death. Richard and Buckingham form an alliance and seek to gain custody of the Crown Prince, Edward’s oldest son, and his brother. They arrest the queen’s brother and other of the Woodville family. At the news the queen takes her younger son and daughter and seeks sanctuary in a church.
Act III
Richard and Buckingham greet the Crown Prince to London and are able to force the church to give up the younger prince as well from sanctuary. Richard orders that the boys be held for their own safety in the Tower. Then he and Buckingham prepare to test Hastings’ support for Richard becoming king instead of the young prince. Hastings is invited to a council meeting to determine when the coronation will take place. Despite multiple warnings, Hastings goes, reveling in the news that the queen’s relatives have been executed. At the council meeting Richard suddenly accuses the queen and Jane Shore, Edward’s mistress whom Hastings has taken up with, of bewitching his withered arm. On this patently false charge Hastings is accused of conspiracy and is ordered executed on the spot. Richard and Buckingham then pretend to the Lord Mayor of London that there is an attack imminent against them and that the urgency of the situation forced them to kill Hastings. Buckingham goes with the Mayor back to meet with the leading citizens. In a speech he argues that Richard should be crowned king by asserting that Edward was really an illegitimate child and that the princes were not really his. He manages to bring a large crowd back to see Richard, who pretends that he is at prayer and is reluctant to even speak with them. When Richard refuses to accept the crown, Buckingham threatens to lead a move to overthrow the York family’s claim and install another as king. Playing the part of the reluctant leader to the hilt, Richard finally accepts the crown.
Act IV
Elizabeth, Richard’s mother and his wife are trying to visit the princes in the Tower when word comes that Richard will be crowned king. Anne reluctantly goes to be crowned queen, telling us her husband will soon murder her too. After the coronation Richard asks Buckingham to arrange the deaths of the boys, but the duke is reluctant to commit such a heinous act. Richard drops his ally and hires someone else to carry out the murders. News comes that those who fear Richard’s tyranny are fleeing across the seas to Brittany where Richmond, the last of the Lancaster leaders, is living in exile. Richmond is the step-son of Lord Stanley, an important noble in the court. Richard suspects his loyalty. Finally Richard starts the rumor that his wife is sick and may die soon. The bloody murders of the innocent princes are carried out, as Richard learns that Buckingham and others in the country are rising up against him. As Queen Elizabeth and Richard’s mother, the Duchess of York, grieve for the deaths of their children and other relatives, they are joined by Margaret, the queen of Henry VI, who laments his murdered husband and son. The women are long-time enemies but they join in cursing the author of so much of their woes, Richard. When he enters his own mother puts a curse upon him and hopes his enemies triumph. When she leaves Richard detains Queen Elizabeth and tries to get her support in winning her daughter’s love. With his wife now dead, Richard has determined that it will strengthen his claim on the throne if he marries his own young niece. At first Elizabeth does not understand what he wants. Then she is appalled at the idea that the murderer of her sons seeks her daughter as a wife. Richard finally threatens to slaughter the young girl and many others unless she will marry him. After the queen leaves Richard receives many reports of his enemies losing in on him, including Richmond who has landed with an army in the west. However, Buckingham has been captured and his army dispersed. Lord Stanley secretly swears he will support Richmond.
Act V
Buckingham acknowledges his complicity in many crimes and is executed on Richard’s orders. Richmond is greeted as a savior and marches to meet Richard’s army in the center of England. They meet at Bosworth. The night before the battle the ghosts of all Richard’s past victims appear to him in a dream and tell him he will despair and die in the fight; they assure Richmond he will win. The next morning Richard does realize the enormity of his crimes but determines to fight it out to the death. In the battle Richard is knocked from his horse and is finally slain by Richmond. The victor proclaims an amnesty, announces his marriage to the young princess to unite the families of York and Lancaster, and goes off to prepare for his coronation as King Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs.