William Shakespeare

King Richard III William Shakespeare

Lady Anne attends the corpse of Henry VI, with Trestle and Berkeley, going from St Paul's Cathedral. She bids them set down the "honourable load", then laments. Richard appears, and Lady Anne says that "Henry's wounds [...] bleed afresh". He confesses the murder, and she spits at him; he offers himself to her sword, but she drops it; he offers to kill himself at her order, but she accepts his ring. Richard exults at having won her over so; and tells the audience that he will discard her once she has served her purpose. The atmosphere at court is poisonous: The established nobles are at odds with the upwardly mobile relatives of Queen Elizabeth, a hostility fueled by Richard's machinations. Queen Margaret, Henry VI's widow, returns, though banished, and warns the squabbling nobles about Richard, cursing extensively. The nobles, all Yorkists, unite against this last Lancastrian, and ignore the warnings. Richard orders two murderers to kill Clarence in the tower. Clarence, meanwhile, relates a distressing dream to his keeper, before going to sleep. The murderers arrive with a warrant, and the keeper relinquishes his office. While the murderers are pondering what to do, Clarence wakes, recognises their purpose, and pleads with them; presuming that Edward has offered them payment, he tells them to go to Gloucester, who will reward them better for having kept him alive. One of the murderers explains that Gloucester hates him, and sent them. Pleading again, he is eventually interrupted, with "Look behind you, my lord", and stabbing.