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Apart from Margaret, no one at
court speaks out against Richard’s
acts. But in the London streets the
citizens do. The first half of the
play is confined to a London
that Richard clearly regards as
his domain. But the commoners
represent a wider audience
whose judgment Richard’s clever
performance can’t control. Another
part of this audience comprises the
women—Anne, Queen Margaret,
the Duchess of York, and Queen
Elizabeth. They watch and
remember. As Richard’s mother
points out, women are often the
sole surviving keepers of accounts.
The landscape widens
Dreams, nightmares, curses,
prophecies, and premonitions
present a metaphysical dynamic in
the play beyond Richard’s control.
As soon as he murders the innocent
princes in the Tower, his fortunes
begin to fail. He becomes prey to
THE FREELANCE WRITER
doubts and fears, and Anne reveals
that he’s long had “timorous
dreams” (4.1.84). With his first
careful words as king he tries to
share responsibility for the coup
with Buckingham: “Thus high by
thy advice / And thy assistance is
King Richard seated” (4.2.4–5).
But Buckingham grows suspiciousEnglish actor Laurence Olivier
played Richard as an alluring, Satanic
jester in the 1955 film adaptation. He
was often shot in close-up, malevolently
confiding to camera.Would you enforce me to
a world of cares?
Call them again. I am
not made of stone...
Richard
Act 3, Scene 7and this puts their double-act
under strain. Just when Richard
needs help from his self-interested
friends, confined as he now is at the
center of the action, he finds himself
increasingly isolated and dependent
on strangers such as Tyrrel to
complete his plots.
Buckingham’s departure from
the court heralds the waning of
Richard’s sole command of the
action. It also prompts Richmond’s
arrival on the scene. We learn of
his planned invasion from France,
secretly supported by Lord Stanley
and Queen Elizabeth. Now the
action of the play opens up and
moves from London’s square mile
to rural Leicestershire, the heart of
England, and to Bosworth Field. ❯❯