Shakespeare - Richard III - plot summary

How much do you know about Shakespeare’s play Richard III? This section takes you step by step through the play, helping you to identify key plot points.

Richard III is a play about evil, violence and murder. It charts the rise of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a cold-blooded and dastardly villain who slaughters his family and even marries his victim’s widow to become king. It’s a history play, but the plot isn’t necessarily true to events: Shakespeare wrote the play during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The hero of the play, who ends Richard’s reign of tyranny, is Richmond, who goes on to become King Henry VII, Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather.

Contents

• Richard sets up his brother Clarence who’s sent to prison for treason.
• Richard makes a pass at Lady Anne, despite him murdering her husband.
• Henry VI’s widow, Queen Margaret, puts curses on everyone.
• Clarence is killed, King Edward IV dies and his son becomes his heir.
• Richard has Elizabeth’s relatives and Hastings killed. He becomes King.
• Richard has his nephews and wife killed, then he proposes to his niece.
• Buckingham asks for his reward for loyalty and is executed.
• Richard’s enemy, Richmond promises to topple the tyrant King. Ghosts visit both men.
• Richmond kills Richard in battle, ending the conflict between York and Lancaster.

Richard’s family, the Yorks, have just beaten the Lancasters. Richard killed King Henry VI himself, but he remains just a duke, whilst his older brother Edward has been made the new king.

Richard lets the audience know that he intends to cause trouble and delight in it. He blames his moodiness on his disabilities and his lack of attractiveness to the world. He plots against his brother, King Edward IV, but manages to get the blame placed on their brother Clarence. Clarence is sent to prison for treason, whilst Richard, with a straight face, promises to help him.

Did you know? The wars between the House of York and the House of Lancaster were called the Wars of the Roses, because each county has a rose as its symbol. Yorkshire is still represented by a white rose, and Lancashire by a red rose, today. The two counties still have a rivalry, even though the last battle between them was five hundred years ago, when this play ends.

Henry VI’s funeral procession comes past, led by Lady Anne who is also grieving for her husband. Even though Richard is responsible for the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, Richard decides that this is the right time to make a pass at her. He does this in front of the late King’s coffin, and Henry’s wounds start to bleed again in response. There was a superstition at this time that if a murderer and the corpse of his victim were in the same room, the victim would start to bleed again.

At first Lady Anne is enraged by Richard. She insults him and curses him. She even spits at him. But Richard tells her that he killed the king and her husband because he was mad for love of her, so it was her fault. He tells her that her beauty bewitched him and asks her to take pity on him. When he offers her his sword to kill him, she can’t do it. By the end of the scene, amazingly, she has agreed to be his wife.

Meanwhile, King Edward IV is seriously ill. Richard comments that his brother brought it on himself because of his over-indulgent lifestyle. Richard hates Edward’s wife, Elizabeth, in particular. He thinks she’s common and hates the fact that all of her relatives have been given royal titles.

Whilst they are all squabbling, Queen Margaret interrupts them. She is their late enemy’s widow, the grieving wife of Henry VI. It is amazing that she has been allowed to remain at the palace. She is old, and possibly senile, but most of all she is bitter to the core, because her entire family have been slaughtered by the Yorks. She curses everybody present, hoping that they will one day be as miserable as her. Buckingham manages to calm her down, but then she curses him too because he’s polite to Richard.

It turns out that there’s been plenty of killing on both sides in the past. Margaret was responsible for the murder of Richard’s little brother, Rutland.

Did you know? Shakespeare alters the facts here. In real life, Queen Margaret was actually dead. She makes an interesting commentator though, which allows Shakespeare to make some valid points about war and our inability to learn from history’s mistakes.**

In prison, Clarence has a dream that Richard pushes him off a ship and he drowns. Even so, he thinks that Richard loves him right up until the moment that Richard’s hired henchmen stab him and dump him in a vat of wine.

King Edward tries to bring everyone together. His good mood is spoilt with the news that his brother, Clarence has been executed. Richard explains that there must have been a bit of a mix-up. King Edward is devastated. He dies shortly after.

The King’s son, also called Edward, is set to become king. As he is so young, his uncle, Richard, is named as his 'Protector'. Richard makes an alliance with Buckingham, and together they aim to take control of the situation to limit Queen Elizabeth’s power.

Queen Elizabeth takes her other young son to a place of safety, away from Richard.

Meanwhile, Richard gains the boys’ trust and even allows the youngest one to be rude to him. He puts them up in the Tower of London. Understandably, they’re a bit unsure about this.

Queen Elizabeth’s relatives, Rivers, Grey and Vaughan are executed on Richard’s orders.

During a meeting to decide the date of Prince Edward’s coronation, Richard then accuses Lord Hastings of witchcraft and treason. Hastings is executed, having missed the warning signs in a teeth-clenching fashion – his friend Lord Stanley even told him he had had a dream about it. Everyone else is now very scared of Richard.

Richard gets Buckingham to spread lies about his brother Edward, suggesting that he was illegitimate, to throw the young prince’s claim to the throne in question. Buckingham can’t seem to muster up much enthusiasm for Richard amongst the general public though.

Buckingham and Richard stage a ridiculous farce where Richard pretends to be too busy praying to talk to the Lord Mayor about being king. He refuses to take the crown until he is begged to do so. Richard is crowned King the next day.

Queen Elizabeth goes to visit her sons at the Tower of London, with Lady Anne, Richard’s wife. They are refused entry. It’s at this point that Lady Anne learns that her husband is to be crowned king. The women sympathise with each other; neither of them like Richard at all.

Richard tells Buckingham he wants the little princes dead, but Buckingham doesn’t have the stomach for it. It’s at this point that Richard starts to think Buckingham might need to be got rid of. Richard also suggests that he will soon murder his wife Anne.

After the princes are murdered and Lady Anne is dead, Richard begins to put plans in place to marry his brother’s daughter.

Queen Elizabeth, Queen Margaret, and Richard’s mother, the Duchess of York all mourn together. It turns into a competition to prove who is the saddest and most hard done by.

Richard’s mother gives him a piece of her mind. Queen Elizabeth also has a go at him. In spite of her disgust at him, Queen Elizabeth gives Richard the impression that she is warming to the idea of him marrying her daughter as a strong political move and a nice way to get over her grief.

By the time Buckingham comes round to the idea of murdering the little princes, Richard has lost interest in him. Buckingham tries to remind Richard of his promise to reward him with a new title and the riches that go with it, but Richard has no time to listen to him. Richard seems to be losing the plot. Buckingham escapes to Wales.

Buckingham joins Richmond against Richard. Richard learns that Queen Elizabeth has now promised that Richmond can marry her daughter instead. Buckingham is captured.

On the day of his execution, Buckingham remembers all the bad things he has done and all the other people that have been executed as a result of his dealings with Richard. He also remembers Margaret’s curse.

Richmond gathers support to remove Richard from the throne. Lord Stanley wants to join Richmond, but Richard holds his son hostage.

Richmond prays to God for help in the battle. He is confident that he can beat Richard and restore peace to England. His rousing speeches to his men show that he will be a strong leader and a force for good. Meanwhile, Richard seems to be losing all control.

The night before the battle, ghosts of Richard’s victims visit his tent and haunt him. They also visit Richmond’s tent and give him encouragement and the promise of victory.

There is a battle and Richard fights bravely and ferociously. He loses his horse and staggers about the battlefield on foot. Catesby tries to rescue him.

Richard and Richmond fight and Richard is killed. Richard’s crown is taken and given to Richmond.

Richmond promises an end to the War of the Roses (Lancaster and York). He promises that with his marriage to Elizabeth – King Edward and Queen Elizabeth’s daughter – long lasting peace will return to England.