But he didn’t have a model for how to do that (nothing in Marlowe could really point the way for him), and hadn’t yet learned to do it himself. Richard then tells Edward that Clarence is dead and makes Edward feel guilty over their brother’s death since Edward is already sick and dying, his guilt accelerates his decline and he dies soon afterwards.Īs Harold Bloom observes in his analysis of Richard III in his Shakespeare: The Invention Of The Human, the least successful poetry in the play is when Shakespeare is trying to depict Richard’s sudden pricking of conscience on the eve of the battle, and trying to create an inner life for Richard. Richard also tells King Edward, his brother, that their brother Clarence is plotting against Edward while Clarence is being imprisoned in the Tower of London, Richard sends men to drown Clarence in a butt of Malmsey wine. With this ambition in mind, Richard sets about wooing Anne, the widow of a man Richard has himself murdered. Deformed and ugly, and spurned by women at court, Richard realises that the only pleasure he will get from life is through gaining power – and, ultimately, the throne. However, one man isn’t happy: Edward’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. After the various battles and power struggles documented in the three Henry VI plays, this ‘winter of discontent’ has given way to a ‘glorious summer’ with Edward, of the royal house of York, ruling securely as King of England.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |