Richard III Gender Quotes

This is the first mention of women in the play, and it's significant since it sets up our expectations for how they will be treated. Gloucester suggests that the influence of Queen Elizabeth, King Edward IV's wife, is responsible for Clarence's imprisonment. A few things can be distilled here: Richard suggests that women have undue influence, and he may secretly resent their power. Further, he suggests that Elizabeth is villainous. So basically, women have power they shouldn't have, and we should expect them to use that power for evil.

Richard shows off his bawdy sense of humor here – and his deftness with language. Brackenbury has said he has nothing ("nought") to do with Shore (Edward's mistress). Richard plays on this word, turning it into "naught," a reference to sexual wickedness. What's important here, though, is that Richard undercuts Shore's sexual power over Edward. He mocks her as one who gets around, and thus reduces her to an object, which distracts us from thinking about the power she has over him as his sexual partner.

Richard views Anne as a means to an end.  We again get a clue that Richard sees how women have power, but rather than be used by a woman, he has every intention to use her. Further, he's absolutely impenetrable when it comes to love, as he delights in killing Anne's father-in-law and husband and then marrying her.

The first woman we encounter in the play is a lamenting and sorrowful mourner. It seems women will often play the role of mourners in Richard III, left behind to grieve over their lost men and the evil of other men.

Richard dismisses Anne's anger here, basically saying, "you sure are cute when you're mad."  This is an age-old old trick to disempower women.  We see something similar happen over and over again in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew.

Anne collapses at this point.  She already knows what's in Richard's "heart" (she's just provided a laundry list of his evil deeds), but here she acts like it's possible he really loves her.

Richard's claim against the women is ridiculous, since Richard's arm has been withered since birth. Perhaps because of Richard's powerful position, or because of the inferior position of the women, Hastings is immediately expected to side with Richard.

The women all commiserate with each other, though their woes are different in kind and degree. There is a sisterhood of sorts, as all the women seem to constantly fall victim to the actions of the men. However, as the duchess points out, the women are literally at the root of the grief, as their positions as mothers and wives tie them intimately to the perpetrators of wrong. Still, they seem to have no power to affect the men's actions, but only to condemn them after the fact.

The duchess asserts that her power as a woman might have been to cut Richard off before his birth. Remember, at the end of this speech she curses him to a bloody death. Her power was to give him life, and her curse might be partly responsible for his death.

Elizabeth would rather slander her own honor than see her daughter suffer. Women in the play subjugate their own titles and reputations to protect their loved ones. This makes them distinct from the men, for whom power is of the utmost importance. Richard is keen on marrying Elizabeth precisely to protect his title as king of England (as marrying Elizabeth would secure his throne). Queen Elizabeth's intuition that she could protect her daughter by stripping her of her title is correct. Richard would not marry her for love, but rather for her politically strategic importance. Of course, the irony is that none of the women in the play have inherent power. Only their bloodlines and titles are beneficial to the men, who seek legitimacy and legitimate heirs.

Richard's condemnation is harsh; he thinks Queen Elizabeth is foolish. Of course, the irony is that Queen Elizabeth will be having the last laugh, as she has no intention of carrying through with Richard's marriage to her daughter. Richard's arrogance leads him to believe that he's manipulated another woman, when in actuality her shrewd decisions regarding her own daughter (another woman Richard meant to manipulate) will be Richard's downfall.