King Richard III
1597
King Richard III
1597
A seductive, self-aware monster commands the stage in Shakespeare's most chilling examination of political ambition and moral corruption. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is one of literature's great villains: physically deformed, intellectually brilliant, and entirely conscious of the evil he performs. With dark wit and theatrical charm, he manipulates his way toward the throne, dispatching anyone who stands in his path, including his brother Clarence, the princes in the Tower, and even the husband of the woman he pursues. But as the bodies pile higher and his support crumbles, Richard discovers that playing the villain is a role from which there is no graceful exit. The play concludes at Bosworth Field, where the 'bottled spider' meets his bloody end, and the crown he seized so cunningly is won by a man who once called him friend. What makes King Richard III endure is its uncomfortable seductiveness: we cannot look away from Richard, cannot resist his wit, cannot help but be entertained by his monstrousness even as we recognize its horror. Shakespeare asks whether evil is born or made, whether fate shapes us or we shape ourselves, and whether charm can transform murder into something almost palatable.
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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-56ec4454-2517-4ae5-854e-0d4e3a66d01d.Shakespeare, W. (1597). King Richard III. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/king-richard-iii-56ec4454-2517-4ae5-854e-0d4e3a66d01dShakespeare, William. King Richard III. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/king-richard-iii-56ec4454-2517-4ae5-854e-0d4e3a66d01d.
