Subjects:
The night before battle at Bosworth field, Richard’s sleep is disturbed by the ghosts of those he murdered in his scheme to acquire and retain the kingship. The ghosts haunt Richard with prophesies of the justice due him. Startled from sleep, Richard’s shaken soliloquy is delivered fearfully and honestly, testifying his gradation of sins and foreshadowing his inevitable demise.
While dreaming, Richard is reminded of the evil deeds he has performed by the ghosts of his victims. As Richard sleeps his conscience is awake for the first time in the play. The king’s waking soliloquy in Act V, Scene 3 is the strongest example of Richard’s troubling guilt, failing confidence, and fear of moral retribution. The ambitious Richard’s resolve is shaken by the realization that his evil deeds have assigned him a fate that wrests away control. The kings reactions to the ghosts are confused and contradicting; they are the desperate lamentations of a condemned man.
In Act IV, Scene 4 the first
. . .
. Each sin has served to introduce a more dire sin necessary to Richard’s cause. By day, the sky lours upon him as he prepares for battle with Richmond.
Richard’s trembling in Act 5, Scene 3, is his only display of fear throughout the play.
Richard’s loss of control is also evidenced by his suspicions of his supporters. Awake, Richard’s evil and ambition deny any intrusion of conscience. Soon, there will be, “vengeance on the head of Richard.
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