Richard Iii Essay, Research Paper

Kings are generally thought to be beautiful, God-like humans

from a certain genealogy. They are placed at the throne due to

whom they were born to and/or who they marry. Richard of

Glouster is born of the royal family but, he does not possess the

qualities of a King to be legitimate according to Shakespeare s

Richard III.

Richard and his brothers are all entitled to the throne if

their father dies. By killing his two brothers, Richard is the

only person in his immediate family entitled to the throne. Why

must he kill his brothers so that he may gain the crown?

Shakespeare depicts Edward and Clarence as far more worthy of the

crown. They possess traits of a King which Richard does not

possess.

Richard states in his opening speech Unless to spy my

shadow in the sun/And descant on mine own deformity./ And

therefore since I cannot prove a lover (1.1.26-28). In this

speech Richard admits he cannot be a lover because he is ugly

with deformity. This imperfectness does not fit the perfect

qualities known to Kings. His brothers, on the other hand, do

possess the ability to love and both were married or betrothed.

Edward even had two women to love! Some may say that Edward was

illegitimate because of his other lover, but, is it better and

more respectable to not be able to have love or to have several

loves? A King should be able to love to rule a Kingdom otherwise

he may be a ruthless killer as Shakespeare demonstrates in the

play.

Gaining the hand of a woman not only makes a King look

worthy to love but also is used for political gains. Richard

himself demonstrates this as he ruthlessly goes after Ann after

killing her lover and her Father. Through manipulation but not

by his heart he gains Ann s hand. So, he does gain a woman for

political strength but he still does not fulfill the trait of a

King as a loving individual.

Why does Richard believe he should be King? He seems to

possess only one quality which his brothers have: to be born of

Royalty. One other quality exists in his favor, but is

questionable. Richard is a good leader. Yet, he leads through

fear. For example, in Act 5 Richard demands that Stanley bring

him an army or he will decapitate his son. He also leads through

manipulation. For example he manipulates his brother Clarence

into believing he was going to help free him from prison (though

he was responsible for putting him there in the first place). He

tells Clarence as he s escorted to the tower Well, your

imprisonment shall not be long./I will deliver you or lie for

you./Meantime, have patience. (1.1.115-117) Shakespeare s

audience already knows this is a complete lie. So, although

Richard is a good leader in making people do and act the way he

wants them to, he does it in an unkindly way. He is really a

traitor by lying to his own brother for his own gains.

Shakespeare is commenting on yet another trait that Kings should

have which Richard lacks. A King should be looking out for the

good of the Kingdom, it s people and most definitely his own kin.

Richard only looks out for himself and his own personal gains.

Some may say that to be a King you must be able to

manipulate. After all, manipulation is a very important tool for

powerful Kings to help his kingdom gain land and money.

Shakespeare may be analyzing this trait of Kings. Shakespeare

portrays Richard as a evil minded puppet master. Richard even

admits this in his opening speech when he says I am determined

to prove a villain/ And hate the idle pleasures of these days.

(1.1.30-31). Shakespeare implies that manipulation tends to be a

trait of Kings, and some even gain the throne by it. Although,

the crowd doesn t cheer for Richard when it is announced he is

the new king making a statement that he really shouldn t be the

King. When Buckingham returns to Richard after announcing to the

people that he has been crowned he says to Richard Now, by the

holy mother of our Lord,/ The citizens are mum, say not a word.

(3.7.2-3) The silent statement of the citizens is clear, Richard

is not to be their King. Also, Richard s path to Kingdom costs

him his life. By having other nobles kill Richard and regain the

throne Shakespeare depicts again how Richard is unfit for the

throne.

Faith in God is another known Kingly quality. Kings were

often seen with Bishops and priests. Richard only uses men of

the cloth for political gain. So, in a sense, Richard is making

himself an illegitimate Christian. He is only pretending to have

faith. He is claiming to be above God s law by only using

religion for political gain. This is sinful and therefore makes

him a sinner or illegitimate Christian.

Isolation is another way Shakespeare depicts Richard as

illegitimate. A King is a very prominent figure and just a

stroll down the street for a King is an elaborate ceremony. The

King is always surrounded by loyal subjects and guards. Yet

Richard isolates himself physically and psychologically from

everyone (including himself). At the beginning of the play

Richard is speaking alone. This emphasizes his isolation as he

appears alone to the audience. At the very end of the play

Richard is again alone as he asks to be alone before the final

battle. He is alone once again when the ghosts appear in his

dream. Another way he is physically alone is through his

deformity. To the audience, Richard s deformity is an outward

indication of the disharmony from Nature he possesses. His

deformity makes him an outcast of society. An outcast of society

is surely not fit to be a King.

Richard isolates himself psychologically by not showing the

evil that is really inside his mind. In his opening speech

Richard states Dive, thoughts, down to my soul when he sees

his brother approaching. He is hiding from his brother what he

is really thinking and feeling. Another psychological isolation

is conveyed by his lack of remorse of the murders he s had

committed. This shows that he is a masochistic man who only

wants one thing, power. Richard s psychological isolation may

not directly indicate his unfitness to be King, but it surely

questions his sanity. Questionable sanity is what makes him

unfit to be a King according to Shakespeare.

Finally, Richard isolates himself from his brothers. By

betraying them is the first step in his isolation. Brothers are

supposed to be loyal to each other. By betraying them he cut off

that loyalty. Also, by physically killing his brothers Richard

has cut himself off of close family. He sees this as a means

toward his gain but in reality he needs their brotherhood to

remain in power.

An indication of Richard s possible admittance to the

illegitimacy of the crown may be when he looses his horse in

battle and says twice in the closing battle A horse! A horse!

My kingdom for a Horse! (5.4.7) He realizes that the Kingdom as

he had gained it wasn t worth much than a horse. If he had

gained the crown through more legitimate means, the Kingdom would

be worth more.

Shakespeare s depiction of Richard III s rise and fall from

the throne clearly show that Richard s claim to the throne is

more solid than his brothers. Yet, taking a closer look reveals

that Richard s claim is illegitimate also. His illegitimacy is

not bound by bastardliness but by the qualities he possesses.

Works Cited

1) Shakespeare, William. Richard III. In The Norton Shakespeare.

Edited by Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 1997.