King Richard III
1896
King Richard III
1896
The most entertaining villain in English literature steps onto the stage and tells you exactly what he's going to do. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is a man who knows his own deformity, physical and moral, and wears both like armor. Shakespeare gives this Machiavel some of the finest speeches in the canon: the opening soliloquy where he confesses his intention to "prove a villain," the seduction scene with Lady Anne over her father-in-law's coffin, the crown justification to his mother. Richard doesn't just manipulate everyone around him, he manipulates you, the audience, drawing you into his confidence with wit so sharp it cuts. This is a play about the seduction of power and the terrible charm of someone who knows he's damned. It will make you laugh even as you recognize the monster. Four hundred years later, Richard remains the role every great actor wants to play, and the character every reader remembers.
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“Dispute not with her: she is lunatic.””
— William Shakespeare
“So wise so young, they say, do never live long.””
— William Shakespeare
“And thus I clothe my naked villainyWith odd old ends stol'n out of holy writ;And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.””
— William Shakespeare
“Out of my sight! Thou dost infect mine eyes.””
— William Shakespeare
“And therefore,”
— William Shakespeare
“Now is the winter of our discontentMade glorious summer by this sun of York;And all the clouds that lour'd upon our houseIn the deep bosom of the ocean buried.””
— William Shakespeare
“What do I fear? Myself? There’s none else by.Richard loves Richard; that is, I and I.Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am.Then fly! What, from myself? Great reason why:Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself?Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any goodThat I myself have done unto myself?O, no! Alas, I rather hate myselfFor hateful deeds committed by myself.I am a villain. Yet I lie. I am not.Fool, of thyself speak well. Fool, do not flatter:My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,And every tongue brings in a several tale,And every tale condemns me for a villain.Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree;Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree;All several sins, all used in each degree,Throng to the bar, crying all, “Guilty! guilty!”I shall despair. There is no creature loves me,And if I die no soul will pity me.And wherefore should they, since that I myselfFind in myself no pity to myself?””
— William Shakespeare
“I have set my life upon a cast,And I will stand the hazard of the die.””
— William Shakespeare
“Conscience is but a word that cowards use,Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe:Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.March on, join bravely, let us to't pell-mell;If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell.””
— William Shakespeare
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Shakespeare, William. King Richard III. Lex, lex-books.com/book/king-richard-iii-0de050a9-3366-4986-bb8f-28dc91e99f68.Shakespeare, W. (1896). King Richard III. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/king-richard-iii-0de050a9-3366-4986-bb8f-28dc91e99f68Shakespeare, William. King Richard III. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/king-richard-iii-0de050a9-3366-4986-bb8f-28dc91e99f68.
