Richard III Discussion - ACT 4
1) What does Anne realize about her relationship with Richard?The horrified Anne fears that Richard's coronation will mean ruin for England, and says that she should have resisted marrying Richard because after all, she herself has cursed him (in Act I, scene ii) for killing her first husband. About to be crowned queen, she reveals that the curse she placed on Richard's future wife has ironically fallen upon her. As his wife, she has no peace, and Richard is continually haunted by bad dreams which in turn disrupt her sleep as she is kept awake by Richard's timorous dreams. Having been seduced by his 'honey words' at the start of the play, "Even in so short a space, my woman's heart, Grossly grew captive to his honey words," in almost her last utterance, she reveals her fear that he will 'shortly be rid of me'. She is right. He arranges her death so that he can marry the young Elizabeth. Lady Anne: No! why? When he that is my husband nowCame to me, as I follow'd Henry's corse,When scarce the blood was well wash'd from his handsWhich issued from my other angel husbandAnd that dead saint which then I weeping follow'd;O, when, I say, I look'd on Richard's face,
Now, he has disposed of Clarence's two children by locking up the dim-witted boy and marrying off the girl to a lower-class man, to keep her from marrying a nobleman who might be able to use his wife's ancestry to justify an attempt to seize the throneRichard: Richard: O bitter consequence,That Edward still should live! 'True, noble prince!'Cousin, thou wert not wont to be so dull:Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead;And I would have it suddenly perform'd. Instead of using his skills at deception and manipulation to achieve more difficult and incisive goals, he has started killing everyone in sight. s my wish: 'Be thou,' quoth I, ' accursed,For making me, so young, so old a widow!And, when thou wed'st, let sorrow haunt thy bed;And be thy wife--if any be so mad--As miserable by the life of theeAs thou hast made me by my dear lord's death!Lo, ere I can repeat this curse again,Even in so short a space, my woman's heartGrossly grew captive to his honey wordsAnd proved the subject of my own soul's curse,Which ever since hath kept my eyes from rest;For never yet one hour in his bedHave I enjoy'd the golden dew of sleep,But have been waked by his timorous dreams. He has reached the pinnacle of success and must scramble to keep his prize in the face of all his opponents. 2) Why is Richard still not satisfied even when he is crowned king?After attaining his goal of seizing the throne, Richard directs his actions toward securing and maintaining his power. Instead of killing a person they can be made to see what consequences their actions have caused and hopefully there is a chance for reform. It could be said that this scene is designed to demonstrate Richard's persuasive powers weakening and heralds his downfall. Whether Buckingham would have agreed to help Richard in the end, we cannot know, since Richard privately decides to drop Buckingham the moment he first hears him hesitate. As he notes, his goal is to "stop all hopes whose growth may damage me"-which amounts to killing everybody who could possibly be a threat (IV. Margaret sees just retribution in the fact that nearly everyone who has died since her husband and son was either a participant or a bystander during the murders of her husband and son. What sayest thou? speak suddenly; be brief. He has already had his brother Clarence killed. Besides, he hates me for my father Warwick;And will, no doubt, shortly be rid of me. She tells the duchess, "Bear with me.
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