Richard III Art and Culture Quotes

In his dramatic opening speech, Richard declares that he's hell-bent on being bad.  It almost sounds like he knows he's playing the part of a "villain" on stage, don't you think? 

Here Richard continues to use the language of the theater to describe his elaborate scheme to become king. He'll play the "villain" by devising "plots" and dangerous "inductions."  As you know, a "plot" is a scheme or plan – or the storyline of a play. An "induction" is an initial move or strategy and is also another word for a play's prologue. Basically, Richard is alerting us to the fact that he's going to behave like a stage-director as he lies, manipulates, and murders his way to the throne.

When Richard puts the moves on Lady Anne, we can't help but be impressed by his stunning performance.  After all, it takes serious chops to win the heart of a woman whose husband and father-in-law you've just murdered.  Here Richard turns to the audience and confesses that even he can hardly believe what he's just accomplished.  Richard can be charismatic, charming, and super convincing when he wants to – just like a skilled actor. 

Here Richard declares how unfair it is that he hasn't been blessed with the ability to act, "flatter and speak fair, / Smile on men's faces."  The audience knows that he's full of it, of course – Richard is the ultimate political actor.

Once again Richard tells us he's pretending to be something he's not by acting the part of a godly man.  Interestingly, he describes himself as a Machiavellian figure. Shakespeare was interested in the writings of the Italian philosopher and poet Niccolò Machiavelli, whose book The Prince (1532) was a "how-to" guide for rulers about holding on to power.  Machiavelli argued that being a successful leader has nothing to do with being a nice person or doing the right thing. Instead, it's about being inventive, manipulative, charismatic, crafty, and willful. As a "machiavel," Richard basically role plays his way to the crown.

Here Richard aligns himself with "Vice," a stock character from morality plays, which were big in England at the time.  Typically, the Vice character is an agent of the devil and tries to corrupt mankind. 

Here Buckingham brags that he can be just as good an actor as his pal Richard (he can "counterfeit the deep tragedian").  Basically, Buckingham is letting everyone know that politics involves a lot of acting.  Keep reading...

Wow, Buckingham and Richard really are great actors.  Here they stage a little scene to make it look like the "saintly" Richard doesn't actually want to be crowned king.  (The even use the Bible as a prop to make it look like Richard is more interested in religion than kingship.)  More than anything, the passage suggests that the game of politics is inherently theatrical.  This is a theme Shakespeare revisits time and time again, most notably in Henry IV Part 1.

Richard's not the only one who seems to be aware that he's an actor in a play.  Here Margaret suggests that all of Richard's victims are "beholders of this tragic play."  What's eerie about this is that everyone who knows what Richard is up to is powerless to do anything about it. 

Once again, a character uses the language of the theater to describe the unfolding events.  Here Margaret says she's been lurking around the castle spying on her enemies, as if they're actors in a play and she's been watching the "induction" (prologue).  In many ways, Margaret is like a member of an audience in a theater.  By sneaking around out of sight and commenting on the play's action, she seems to be both inside and outside the action of the play.