The most interesting thing about this play to me is the way it functions as Tudor propaganda. Richmond, Richard’s successor, has a logical and necessary role as his adversary in this story. The historical record documents a struggle between two men which results in the death and usurpation of the loser, and Richmond is indispensable to creating that dynamic onstage. The inclusion of Richmond itself is not propaganda, but the treatment of his character appears that way. His final monologue is the clearest way Shakespeare reaches directly out to his royal audience to flatter them.

We will unite the white rose and the red.

Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction,

That long have frowned upon their enmity.

What traitor hears me and says not “Amen”?

This monologue comes after Richmond decrees a pardon for those who fought on the side of Richard, him knowing that maintaining the divisions of the war will not set England back on the right path. He feels the need to make amends between the two sides of the conflict if he is going to avoid yet another war. Here Shakespeare has contrasted Richmond’s governing style with that of Richard. In the most straightforward terms, Richard is a leader who holds grudges, favors conflict, and encourages division. Juxtaposed with him is Richmond who forgives his enemies, avoids fighting, and fosters unity. Richmond’s moves to unite the Yorks and Lancasters are even purported by him to be the will of God. He communicates that heaven has wept over the wars in England, and now rejoices at the rise of the new king and the beginning of a peaceful era.

Oh, now let Richmond and Elizabeth,

The true succeeders of of each royal house,

By God’s fair ordinance conjoin together;

And let their heirs, God, if Thy will be so,

Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced peace,

With smiling plenty, and fair prosperous days.

This quote is where the groveling really gets started. It’s a happy coincidence that the queen whose cooperation means the reunification of England’s ruling family has the same name as the queen Shakespeare is putting on this play for. His character, who lived over a century before the drafting of this play, can mention Shakespeare’s contemporary queen by name as well as the peace and prosperity she brings. When Richmond appeals to God to sponsor the new union and the new heirs of the English throne, the stakes are quite low because the audience already knows the answer. God must have endorsed the future of England if the new dynasty survived to Shakespeare’s time. Richmond is Queen Elizabeth I’s paternal grandfather, and as the inheritor of the kingdom he patched, she is the one who has been favored by Providence. Explicitly outlining evidence for why God wants your queen to be in charge is some serious propaganda. This is certainly a sanitized version of the actual Tudor dynasty. Richmond’s son, King Henry VIII caused plenty of chaos in England with the break from the church. After his rule, uncertainty of succession became a theme of the dynasty, with a short rule by Henry’s son which was followed by another conflict involving Lady Jane Grey which led to the rise of Queen Mary, and then the childless Elizabeth.