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16th Century Portrait of Richard III.

Richard III in Context

Richard III is part of Shakespeare's history plays which deals with past events in England - mainly after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Richard III (play) was written after Wars of the Roses (c. 1455 - 1485) which was a key event in history. The War of the Roses was an English civil war between two rival families - Lancastrian and Yorks. The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars fought in Medieval England from 1455 to 1487 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The name Wars of the Roses is based on the badges used by the two sides, the red rose for the Lancastrians and the white rose for the Yorkists.

The historical King Richard III was not necessarily more murderous than previous or future Kings, nor was he deformed, unlike Shakespeare's portrayal. Shakespeare's portrays Richard III (play) as a character who is warped by his physical deformity and immoral nature.

The play was crazy-popular in Shakespeare's day. Scholar Stephen Greenblatt tells us that the play was published at least five times during Shakespeare's lifetime.

Richard III's Soliloquy

The Soliloquy

RICHARD: Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this son of York;

And all the clouds that lowered upon our house

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,

Our bruisèd arms hung up for monuments,

Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,

Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.

Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front,

And now, instead of mounting barbèd steeds

To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,

He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber

To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.

But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks

Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;

I, that am rudely stamped, and want love's majesty

To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;

I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion,

Cheated of feature by dissembling Nature,

Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time

Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,

And that so lamely and unfashionable

That dogs bark at me as I halt by them--

Why I, in this weak piping time of peace,

Have no delight to pass away the time,

Unless to see my shadow in the sun

And descant on mine own deformity.

Glossary of Tricky Words

Word - meaning

Lour'd - "from the Middle English louren; probably deriving from Middle High German luren "to lie in wait"

Wreaths - Headgear, usually an entwining of materials, including flowers, twigs, fruit, and sometimes jewelry.

Bruiséd arms - Armour worn during battle

Alarums - Alarm, more specifically a call to arms or war cry.

Barbéd steeds - Armed horses

Fearful adversaries - The enemy

Capers - Lively dancing/skipping

Lascivious - Lustful desire or interest

Sportive tricks - Deception

Wanton / ambling / nymph - Sexually promiscuous / Slow movements similar to dance / mythological woman, beautiful and sexually desirable

Curtailed - Reduced, restricted

Cheated of feature by dissembling Nature - Cheated of good looks and beauty

Descant - Comment

Modern Paraphrasing

Now is the winter of our discontent     Now that the winter of our unhappiness

Made glorious summer by this sun of York;     Has been made into a glorious summer by the son of York;

And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house     And all the miseries that tormented our family

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.     Are now buried in the ocean.

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;     Now our heads are bound with victorious wreaths;

Our bruiséd arms hung up for monuments;     Our armour hung up for display

Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,     Our war cries changes to merry greetings,

Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.     To the lustful sound of the lute

Grim-visaged War hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;     Our battle marches to delightful dancing.

And now, instead of mounting barbéd steeds     And now instead of mounting armoured horses

To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,     To charge at, and scare, our enemies,

He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber     We dance in our lady's chamber.

But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,     But I am not made to deceive and seduce,

Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;     Nor made to admire myself in a mirror;

I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty     I am poorly made, and in want of love

To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;     But too ugly to strut in front of beautiful women;

I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,     I, that am restricted of a fair body,

Cheated of feature by dissembling Nature,     Cheated of beauty by Nature,

Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time     Deformed and unfinished, born before I was ready

Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,     Into this breathing world, barely half made up,

And that so lamely and unfashionable     And so that my disabilities and errors

That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;     Cause dogs to bark at me as I limp by them;

Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,     Why, I in this time of peace,

Have no delight to pass away the time,     Have nothing to pass the time,

Unless to spy my shadow in the sun.     Except for staring at my own shadow

And descant on mine own deformity.     And comment on my own deformity.

Summary

Richard the Duke of Gloucester, speaks in a monologue addressed to himself along with the audience. His older brother, King Edward IV, now sits on the throne after a lengthy civil war and peace has returned to the royal house of England. Everyone around Richard is involved in a great celebration but Richard will not join in with the festivities. He complains that he was born deformed and ugly, and bitterly laments his bad luck.

Analysis

In the play’s well-known opening lines, Richard refers to events that Shakespeare chronicles in his earlier plays Henry VI Part One, Two and Three with which he would have expected his viewers to be familiar. These plays detail an exhausting civil war for the throne of England known as the Wars of the Roses. Richard’s side, the House of York, eventually wins, and Richard’s oldest brother, Edward, is now King Edward IV.

Richard’s opening speech shows us important elements of his character. He says that because he cannot be happy, due to his deformity, it stops him doing things he most desires such as being sexually successful with women. His speech shows that he is very self-centred and that even after a glorious victory he can only lament over his own woes. This monologue also shows us he is a masterful speaker, with how many metaphors and striking images are within his words such as his pun on “son” when he describes how King Edward has turned winter to summer.