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

(lines 192-195)

Anne's first response to his arrival is an outpouring of fresh curses. But Richard ignores her words and assumes a falsely pious position, mildly chiding her and launching into his courtship.

As the honey pours from his lips, a new obstacle arises. In his presence, the corpse seems to undergo a mystic change and blood begins to pour out of its wounds. Here is a touch of gore that the Elizabethan audience, steeped in a tradition of mystical happenings, would readily accept.

Richard ignores the fresh stream of insults and curses prompted by the incident. Instead he quickly returns to his main line of attack--flattery. He calls Lady Anne the "divine perfection of a woman." Such praise must startle her, even though she is quick to reply that he is the "divine infection of a man." No matter. Nothing will stop him. Even when her contempt reaches its ultimate point, when she spits in his face, he turns it to his advantage. He adds pity to his flattery. Not even the savage deaths of his father and brother, the Duke of Rutland, have filled his eyes with tears. But the thought of her beauty has. Can such a claim fail to impress?

In a long speech, he summons up images of personal sorrow and remorse, and further claims of his sincerity. It gives Lady Anne enough reason to pause for reflection.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: LINES 171-263

Having used intimacy, Richard will now be generous, as well as daring. He offers her his sword. If she cannot believe that it was her beauty and his passion for her that drove him to commit murder, then she must kill him right then and there. Forgive him or be his executioner.

Imagine what the weight of such expressed passion must be to Lady Anne. It is more than she can bear and she drops the sword. If she had thrust forward, would the course of English history have changed? Do you think Richard would have allowed her to kill him? Doesn't Richard seem to know her better than she knows herself? How does his verbal mastery indicate her psychological insight? Note how many different stances he takes in a very short period of time. Even though she cannot do it, she claims he must do the job himself. But there is no more resistance in her now. Although they continue to exchange barbs, the game is won and Richard manages to put a ring on her finger to seal the engagement.

Has he merely worn her down or has he swept her off her feet? Has his ugliness and deformity really stood in his way, or has he exploited it to his advantage by arousing her compassion?

Obviously, he has advanced a step closer to his goal, but what else has happened in this perverse courtship scene? Does it tell you something about Richard's attitude toward winning? Did you feel any real passion in his wooing--enough to move you?

Any notion that he may have been touched by Lady Anne's own grief is shattered the moment she leaves. Willfully, he changes the direction of the funeral cortege for no discernible reason. Is it done out of spite? Or is it simply a display of his authority and control?

Once the stage has been cleared, he can barely contain himself. He seems as surprised by his own success as by Lady Anne's default. Winning her is sweet, although he admits he "will not keep her long."

Spurred on by his success with Anne, and despite his physical shortcomings, he has a seemingly newfound change in attitude. He will adorn this character of his own creation with new clothes and will attend to his outward appearance. Remember the "sun" that spotlighted his deformity? How does he feel about it now?

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: LINES 1-41

The entrance of Queen Elizabeth, attended by her brother (Lord Rivers) and her sons from a previous marriage (the Marquess of Dorset and Lord Grey), signals that the action has moved inside the royal palace, probably at Westminster.

Until now, we have had only Richard's word about the political situation. Is the kingdom secure? Are there political squabbles at court? Questions have been suggested, but we have had only one point of view. This scene gives you a chance to enlarge your picture of outside events.

Queen Elizabeth expresses her concern over the king's precarious health. What troubles her most? What will happen to her if he dies. Even though her son, young Edward, the Prince of Wales, should inherit the throne, he is underage. Here is the first warning that succession is no simple matter. It is further established that the queen fears her brother-in-law, Richard of Gloucester, who has been named Protector.

NOTE: PROTECTOR The position of Protector of the Realm was an important and powerful assignment. In the event that the king died and his heir was underage, the Protector was the ultimate authority, speaking for and acting in the name of the monarch. Richard's father, the Duke of York, had also held that title under Henry VI and had used it as a springboard for his attempt to seize the crown. For those Elizabethans familiar with that story, this first mention of the title might have suggested that the Wheel of Fortune was turning.

The Earl of Buckingham enters with Lord Stanley (the Earl of Derby), and Queen Elizabeth reveals that Derby's wife, the Countess of Richmond, is still considered her personal enemy on the Lancaster side, even though the war is over. Was Richard right? How powerful and petty is this Elizabeth?

But Buckingham and Stanley have more important matters to discuss. The king, whom they have just left, is improving. He now wishes to make peace among the various court factions--between the Duke of Gloucester and the queen's party, between the latter and Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: LINES 42-108

As Queen Elizabeth expresses her doubts of that happening, Richard makes a boisterous entrance. He is loudly engaged in what sounds like a private conversation with Hastings. He swears that he is being libeled by complaints that he is too harsh. He complains that he is condemned because he is too honest, that he "cannot flatter and look fair." Alas, he moans, "Cannot a plain man live and think no harm?" (I, iii, 51)

By now you should be familiar with such hypocrisy, but what is its effect on the characters on stage? Are they any better as they protest their own innocence of such charges? Is Richard very far from the mark when he observes:

...the world is grown so bad
That wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.
Since every Jack became a gentleman,
There's many a gentle person made a Jack.