by Lauren Branigan (Circle 7)
In my reading of Richard III, I have found myself having a hard time understanding how the title character’s plans of deception and evil play unravel without a hitch. Absolutely astounded – and admittedly a bit impressed – by the masterful moves executed by Richard, I made the conscious decision to examine what tools he employs to accomplish these horrible deeds. After reviewing a few keys scenes in the first three acts of Richard III, I began to uncover a general pattern of circumstance and language which leads to Richard being successful in all of his malicious endeavors (the man has an excellent track record – I’ll give him that). Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that Richard is able to accomplish his ascent to the throne with relative ease due to his understanding of the efficacy of persuasion and pathos in times of desperation. By pinpointing the desperate desires and weaknesses of the other characters, Richard is able to deploy his arsenal of sticky persuasive sentences and actions to secure the most powerful position in the world.
Richard’s first victim to be confronted with the powerful persuasion is the freshly widowed Lady Anne. With the War of the Roses finally ended, Lady Anne is thrust into a position of extreme disadvantage: her husband, Edward Prince of Wales has been slain by Richard himself, the entire Lancaster house has fallen out of power, and she is rendered a woman without a home, position, or livelihood. Richard, knowing how vulnerable she is at present due to the circumstances, deems this an opportune moment to bombard the grieving and homeless woman with a proposal of marriage. When Richard approaches Lady Anne, she initially sticks to her guns and verbally demolishes Richard’s physical appearance, his personal character, and then finally slanders him as the murderer of her husband:
Blush, blush, thou lump of foul deformity,
For ‘tis thy presence that ex-hales this blood
From cold and empty veins where no blood dwells.
Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural,
Provokes this deluge supernatural.
…………………………………………………
Thou wast provoked by thy bloody mind,
That never dream’st on aught but butcheries.
Didst thou not kill this king? (1.2.57-61, 99-101)
Despite this bold and heartfelt commentary about Richard’s evil nature, Lady Anne is methodically seduced by Richard’s calculated words to the point where she agrees to take his hand in marriage. After admitting to the murder of her husband, Richard bizarrely tries to empathize with Lady Anne after she declares her husband has a worthy place in heaven: “Let him thank me that holp to send him thither, / For he was fitter for that place than earth.” (1.2.107-8). Expanding upon this call to female sentiment, Richard glosses over Lady Anne’s mourning by claiming her too beautiful to express such sorrow, and even appeases her desire to put her into a position of power over him:
Teach not thy lop such scorn, for it was made
For kissing, lady, not for such contempt.
If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive,
Lo, here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword,
Which if thou please to hide in this true breast
And let the soul forth that adoreth thee,
I lay it naked to the deadly stroke
And humbly beg the death upon my knee.
…………………………………………….
But ‘twas thy heavenly face that set me on. (1.2.159-66, 170)
Here, Richard appeals to the typical woman’s emotions by proclaiming her beauty as overwhelming, but he also touches upon her inherently personal desire to pass judgment on him by offering her his own sword to do as she sees fit. Falling for Richard’s meticulously rendered pleas, Lady Anne begrudgingly agrees to take Richard’s hand in marriage. So convincing are his words, dripping with an earnest and compelling passion, Lady Anne quickly makes the decision that Richard is a viable spouse and she suppresses her true feelings for the man because she is truly seeking asylum from the way of life she lost.
Fortunately for Richard, Lady Anne isn’t the only character successfully seduced by circumstance, desperation, and Richard’s perfect speeches. Following her footsteps are the Lancaster cousins, Lord Buckingham, the young Prince of Wales, the Mayor of London, and finally the very people who need to be convinced in order for Richard to become king. It is truly amazing how smoothly Richard takes advantage of the disadvantaged and uses his understanding of powerful oration to accomplish his goals. In the following acts, I am curious to see if a character appears that is able to match Richard’s gift for persuasion and perhaps undermine him.
Lauren,
I think it’s safe to say that having finished the play that despite Richard’s death near the end, that no one was truly able to match him in terms of word manipulation or at least finding the right words to say at the right time. Honestly, the way that the play pans out, most of it is dictated by Richard’s words and actions and it seems that the only reason why he ended up dying at all was to follow both the conventions of Shakespeare’s tragedies, and the fact that it was based on actual historical events. In the entire cast, only Richard really takes advantage of, or even has the ability to bring others over to his side with words alone. While the argument can be made for Richmond, his delivery comes off as weaker and much less interesting because of his near over reliance on the appeal to God and righteousness while Richard utilizes at least three different appeals in his ending speech, being fear, appeal to past history, and demonizing the enemy. Richard always knew what to say and at what time and yes the play had to end that way it had to, but I like to think that if it wasn’t based on history and it didn’t have to follow certain conventions, then readers would be able to clearly see that no one was able to match Richard and that he would have ended up the ultimate victor, especially given his past achievements.
Lauren,
After reading your post it is clear how much of a manipulator Richard is. I am glad that you focused the majority of your post on his manipulation of Lady Anne, because I knew that as soon as he won her over and they got married that the rest of the play was going to be downhill from there. Lady Anne was going to be the hardest to manipulate and somehow he found a way to do so. I couldn’t help but think about how similar he was to Iago in terms of their master manipulation. Iago was striving for power, much like Richard, however, although both characters are villains and neither of their actions should be taken lightly, Iago had the motivation of revenge while striving for power, where as Richard seemed to be just feeling sorry for himself since he was “deformed.” I must say, Richard was wise in his manipulation as he always knew what to say at the right time. For example, just when he think that Lady Anne is never going to cave in and fall for his tricks he hands her his sword and tells her to kill him, knowing very well she would never do so. Game over. Richard wins; and he won until the very end of the play.
Lauren,
I thought this post was really interesting — throughout the play I found myself focusing on characters other than Richard just because I found him so unlikable and cruel. It’s important, though, to look at him as a complete character who has motivations and intelligence. Your post and the example that you give reminded me of Iago and how he was also able to manipulate people through their desperation and insecurities… It’s a skill that only Shakespeare’s most cunning and successful villains have. The Lady Anne story line was such a weird and interesting part of the play for me as well, and how he actually manages to persuade her into marrying him. Lady Anne never struck me as an unintelligent woman when I read the play, but her ultimate demise at the end of the play shows just how powerful Richard is in means of persuasion.
Hi, Lauren!
I have to agree with you on that, definitely; Richard’s manipulation basically goes without protest throughout the play. There’s never really a moment where someone’s like “hey… what’s going on here?”. They just take it for what it is and try to ignore it, or so it seems. Richard, in short, prays on the weak and that is why he is so successful with what he does: he plays with emotions, with insecurities, with weak spots within those around him.
I just really like that a lot of the posts I’ve read have been regarding the Lady Anne scene, because there’s SO much to read in this scene. It’s actually really upsetting to come out of two plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Twelfth Night, where we see stronger and more empowered women roles, and then leap into this play, where we see Lady Anne, who is at first strong and stands her ground, but almost immediately buckles the moment Richard III compliments her. It’s really upsetting to see that sort of portrayal.
Lauren,
I really enjoyed reading your post. I agree that Richard is able to gain control over others by targeting their weaknesses and desires. Thus, he is easily able to persuade others to do things in his favor. As you state, Richard was able to easily persuade Lady Anne into marrying him because she was vulnerable and didn’t really have any better choices. Lady Anne isn’t the only one Richard manipulates and then kills. He gets Buckingham follow along with his crazy antics promising him land and money if he does as he’s asked, only to later kill him.
Lauren,
My post was about a similar topic! The desperation of these characters is, I think, integral to Richard’s success. Richard is highly skilled at pointing out exactly what people’s weaknesses are and using that information to his advantage. This is what makes Richard so terrifying! I think the fact that everyone in his court knows what he is and how he operates makes them a little more willing to bend to his will. Knowing that Richard will stop at nothing to get what he wants makes the people around him want to stay far away from his path. Desperate to stay alive, keep their positions and keep their families safe, the people in court while Richard is in power are driven mostly by fear and hatred.
Your point about him finding the weaknesses in others rings quite true. I also think that it comes in the form of manipulating their strengths. His challenge to Lady Anne is for her to either marry him or kill him. Anne’s unwillingness to kill him, which Richard perceives as a fault, though many would perceive it as strength in mercy, means that she is going to resign to be his wife. The familial bond that he has with his two brothers may be seen as a strength to the nation, but is what allows him to manipulate them so masterfully. He has their trust and misuses it while insisting that these misuses were accidents.