"richard 3" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

NOTE: Although it was officially a royal palace and commonly used as a residence, the Tower of London was also a prison, notorious as a place where famous people had met their deaths. The mere mention of the Tower summoned up images of long imprisonment, torture and execution. In Elizabethan times it had been the scene of Mary, Queen of Scots' imprisonment and, a few years after Richard III was first presented, the celebrated Earl of Essex was executed there.

Clarence explains that his only crime was in being christened "George." The gullible Edward IV has been told by a wizard that his heirs will be displaced by someone whose name begins with "G" and he has used that as an excuse to condemn poor Clarence. Richard's scheme has begun to work. Now it will be easier to dispose of this older brother, an obstacle to the throne.

Apparently commiserating, the wily Richard suggests that Clarence's predicament is undoubtedly the result of the meddling of Edward IV's wife, Queen Elizabeth. He refers to her contemptuously by her former married name, "My Lady Grey."

NOTE: It is difficult today to keep track of the various 15th-century families and their intertwined relationships. But for Shakespeare's audience, these were familiar names, some still prominent in Elizabeth I's court. They wouldn't have trouble remembering that Edward IV's wife Elizabeth had been born a Woodville and was then married to a man named Grey. But the name had even greater ironic impact as it recalled another Lady Grey, Jane, who had claimed the throne unsuccessfully and had been beheaded in 1554.

Richard is lighthearted as he discusses Clarence's problem and makes snide comments about the king's mistress Jane Shore. He suggests that it was an appeal to her that enabled Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain to the king, to gain his release from the Tower. He generously offers to go to the court to plead for Clarence, telling him, "I will deliver you, or else lie for you." Does Richard plan to deliver Clarence from prison or to eternity? The irony of this statement will be apparent before long. For as soon as Clarence has been taken away, Richard's hypocrisy explodes. Love Clarence, does he? So much, he states outright, that he will speed his brother's journey to heaven.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: LINES 122-162

His pleasure in his own guile is interrupted by the entrance of Hastings. Now freed from imprisonment in the Tower, the Lord Chamberlain reveals hatred for the queen's relatives who caused his confinement.

When Hastings gives the news that the king is ailing, Richard assumes a pious attitude, still managing to get in a sly reference to the king's wicked ways:

O, he hath kept an evil diet long
And overmuch consumed his royal person.
(lines 139-140)

For all Richard's cleverness and humor, the politician is at work. Hastings may hate the queen and her relatives, but he is loyal to the king and his children. By his intimacy, Richard tries to draw Hastings closer to himself.

When Hastings leaves, Richard directs his intimacy to the audience as he reveals more of his plans. He is charged with energy as he speaks bluntly and directly about his purpose. Without coming right out and saying that he is after the crown, what other goal could he be driving at? Why else should he be concerned that the king may die before Clarence is out of the way? Why else would he attempt to bind up old wounds by marrying Lady Anne, the widow of the previous heir to the throne?

NOTE: LADY ANNE A marriage to Lady Anne would suit Richard for many reasons. Not only was she the widow of Henry VI's heir, but she and Queen Margaret were the most prominent living representatives of the former Lancaster dynasty. Moreover, she was a great heiress whose property could enhance Richard's position substantially. The great obstacle to such a match was Richard's claim to having killed members of her family. Historically, there is no record of his direct involvement in her father Warwick's death. However, it was widely held that he may well have slain Anne's husband, the Prince of Wales, in hand-to-hand combat. And when her father-in-law, Henry VI, was tried and executed in prison, Richard was listed among the official observers. It was enough, however, for her to believe him guilty of such crimes and to despise and oppose him.

Richard is cold-blooded as he states his plans and purpose. Recognizing the danger of haste and wasted energy, he tosses off what might seem like an idle metaphor: "But yet I run before my horse to market." It will be worth your while to keep that image in mind.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: LINES 1-32

This scene is generally considered one of the greatest ever written by Shakespeare and among the most difficult to perform. It involves a single-minded attempt by Richard to make good on his boast that he will marry Lady Anne, a formidable enemy. Against all odds, he must not only overcome her loathing of him, but must turn her so completely in the other direction that she will agree to marry him. Furthermore, this complete revolution is to take place within a few minutes on stage. Could any real-life person possibly achieve such an objective?

By setting up this incredible challenge so early in the play, is Shakespeare giving the audience a compressed view of Richard's energy and powers of persuasion? How much does this tell you about Richard the actor? By his own admission, you know his motives. There is nothing to do now but observe the master at his craft.

The scene opens with a procession that is carrying the coffin of the late Lancastrian king, Henry VI. It is a striking reminder that even kings are mortal. Lady Anne, attended by two noblemen, leads the way as chief mourner for her father-in-law.

In case anyone in the audience had forgotten the relevant details of the situation, Shakespeare provides a reminder in Anne's first speech. Ironically, the one who will become united with the ultimate cause of her grief pronounces the first curse on Richard. Not only does she cry for vengeance, but "if ever he have a wife," let her know even greater misery than Anne knows now.

Remember this violent wish of Anne's. Like those repeated throughout, it is not an idle remark but carries the potential force of prophecy. Notice, too, the number and kinds of animals she invokes to curse him, including the lowest forms.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: LINES 33-170

As the funeral procession starts up again, Richard enters and commands it to stop. The whirlwind courtship is about to take place. It will take him slightly more than five minutes, speaking forty-three times, to persuade a woman whose husband and father-in-law he has acknowledged murdering to become his wife of her own accord. Does this sound preposterous? Then get set for a lesson in verbal economy.

NOTE: STICHOMYTHIA In the course of their verbal duel, Richard and Anne will use that form of patterned speech Shakespeare probably learned from the works of the Roman playwright, Seneca, which were popular in his time. It involves a bouncing back and forth, in exact meter, of parallel expression, roughly a "point" and "counterpoint" to the same beat. There will be other powerful examples later in the play, but notice how the device operates here.

ANNE: I would I knew thy heart.
RICHARD: 'Tis figured in my tongue.
ANNE: I fear me both are false.
RICHARD: Then never was man true.