Cursed to Read Richard III

If you want to learn how to curse, read Richard III. Curses were definitely some of the most important features of this play. From the very beginning, Richard sees himself as a cursed man and kind of has an “If you can’t be good, be good at it” mentality. His actions only worsen his plight, however, and readers are introduced to some really spectacular curses brought in by an old woman named Margaret, who suffers at his hands.

I highlighted curses everywhere I found them throughout the play, and it was really interesting to go back through and see how each was fulfilled. Margaret’s curses serve as a type of foreshadowing for the rest of the piece, and it was so cool! She would curse the characters with something, and so I knew it was bound to happen, though I didn’t know how. Shakespeare does a great job throwing in some unexpected twists so that each fulfillment is still unexpected.

Mary and I discussed curses and the part that they played in the culture back in Shakespeare’s day. I found a video of Martha Henry, a Shakespeare expert. In it, she is super creepy and says, “Curses were believed in medieval times…so it wasn’t simply somebody saying to somebody, ‘Oh, may you rot in hell!’ It was literally whatever it was you said had substance.” This brought a whole new meaning to the curses, in my opinion! Each one uttered was expected and sincerely wished to be fulfilled. This ups the level of the passion in the play, as well as the hatred.

Perhaps my favorite part of the play, the scene that I would focus on the most, is when the Duchess and Queen Elizabeth question Margaret about how she became such an accomplished curser. She explains to them that it’s brought on by exaggerations of reality, by dwelling on the dark parts of life. “Bettering thy loss makes the bad curser worse. Revolving this will teach thee how to curse.” After she leaves, the Duchess and Queen Elizabeth proceed to rip into Richard with a string of curses that left me extremely impressed.

Cursing is a very prevalent part of Richard III and allows readers to feel the deep emotions of the characters, as well as anxiously anticipate events to come within the play.

Continue Reading...

The Queens of Richard III

Margaret of Anjou

Richard iii may very well be my favorite play to have read so far this semester. It is very clever in its use of wordplay and plot development.  The theme of conscience is huge and brought together through so many character’s interactions.  There's a lot I could write about, but what I think particularly strikes me as something that I might want explore further is the place of women in this play. There's a surprising number of women portrayed, and yet, when you google women in Shakespeare’s play, these characters are almost never mentioned. 

Shelby and I noticed and discussed the role of these women right away.  At first, I didn’t think it was really that significant because I didn’t think the women of the play would have an important role.  However, but the end of the play I saw the women characters to actually be the stronger ones. 

The entire of the tragic events of the play are laid out in curse originally by Queen Margaret showing that women’s words have power, although most people think of her as mad and do not take her seriously until the end, when her curses come to pass.  She has receive a lot of attention, but a less acknowledged and yet very powerful character is Queen Elizabeth, the wife of one the Edwards whom Richard kills. She proves to be a strong-willed character in the play and is one of the few that actually calls Richard out on his villainy.  When he asks her how to woo her daughter, after he’s killed many innocent people, she responds boldly,

“Send to her, by the man that slew her brothers,

A pair of bleeding-hearts; thereon engrave

Edward and York; then haply she will weep:

Therefore present to her--as sometime Margaret

Did to thy father, steep'd in Rutland's blood,--

A handkerchief; which, say to her, did drain

The purple sap from her sweet brother's body

And bid her dry her weeping eyes therewith.

If this inducement force her not to love,

Send her a story of thy noble acts;

Tell her thou madest away her uncle Clarence,

Her uncle Rivers; yea, and, for her sake,

Madest quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne.” (4.4.284-296)

She could easily have been killed for words like this, but she has had enough of standing by while Richard destroys her and everyone else’s lives.  This is just one selection of her bitter remarks.  Most readers, however, don’t seem to look into the strength of her character. 

I did find one interesting discussion reading the comments here that does explore women's roles a little, but could really be expanded.  There are so many views on Shakespeare and feminism or his portrayal of women and so many opinions on this play that I feel like this topic could really flesh out well in a paper.

Continue Reading...