Prestige · $2.99/month
Chapter audio, theme analysis, and downloads
William Shakespeare
0:00 / 0:00
Richard stands aloft between two bishops with a prayer book while the Mayor and Buckingham petition him. He apologizes for deferring friends while serving God, then answers their suit with elaborate refusal: his poverty of spirit and many defects make him unfit, and the royal tree still bears Edward's fruit, which God defend he should wring from the prince.
Buckingham rebuts with the bastard case: Edward's prior contracts to Lady Lucy and Bona, then bigamy with Elizabeth. The Mayor and Catesby entreat. Richard says he cannot nor will not yield. Buckingham threatens that Edward's son shall never reign and they will plant another king to disgrace Richard's house, then walks out with the citizens. Catesby begs Richard to call them back or all the land will rue it.
Richard plays the enforced yes: he is not made of stones, albeit against conscience and soul, and if scandal follows, their mere enforcement shall acquittance him from impure blots because they know how far he is from desiring this. Buckingham salutes King Richard. Coronation is set for tomorrow. Richard says let us to our holy work again and farewells his cousins, piety restored as crown secured.
Power can be seized under the costume of duty forced by others. Richard deflects to Edward's fruit, refuses the crown, then accepts only if the Mayor's enforcement acquits him of scandal blots before coronation is set for tomorrow.
Treat a hard no followed by a walkout and a waiver as proof the acceptance was scripted, not discovered.
Elizabeth, the Duchess, and Anne are barred from the princes at the Tower; Anne must be crowned queen, and Richard tells Buckingham he wishes the bastards dead Elizabeth, Anne, and the Duchess of York meet at the Tower to visit the princes. The Lieutenant says the King has forbidden visitors..
What this chapter proves — the patterns beneath the scene
In this chapter: Softness With a Next Move · Grief Aimed at a Vote · Charm Without a Person.
The cards below name the patterns this chapter proves — carry them with you into the original text.
Softness With a Next Move
Richard will not yield. He lays the happy stars on the dead king's sons and lets the crowd's enforcement acquit him. The humility is a trap with a handle: if they force the crown, he can call the theft a duty they demanded.
Key Insight
Refusal that expects to be overruled is not humility. It is a way to make the room complicit. The more he says nay, the more they have to insist.
“I cannot, nor I will not yield to you.”Full analysis
Grief Aimed at a Vote
Richard refuses the crown as if desire itself would stain him. He lays the right and fortune of the happy stars on Edward's sons, then lets the crowd's enforcement acquit him of wanting what he has spent the play arranging.
Key Insight
The most useful emotion here is reluctance. If they force the crown on him, he can call the theft a duty and the yes their idea.
“Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me from all the impure blots and stains thereof.”Full analysis
Charm Without a Person
Richard will not yield. He lays the happy stars on Edward's sons and lets enforcement acquit him of wanting what he built. The charm here is reluctance. If they insist, he can call the theft a duty and the yes their idea.
Key Insight
Watch for the person who refuses in a way that makes you do the insisting. Sociopathic charm often looks like being talked into the thing they already wanted.
“I cannot, nor I will not yield to you.”Full analysis
Chapter 13
Enter Richard aloft, betweene two Bishops Maior. See where his Grace stands, tweene two Clergie men Buck. Two Props of Vertue, for a Christian Prince, To stay him from the fall of Vanitie: And see a Booke of Prayer in his hand, True Ornaments to know a holy man. Famous Plantagenet, most gracious Prince, Lend fauourable eare to our requests, And pardon vs the interruption Of thy Deuotion, and right Christian Zeale Rich. My Lord, there needes no such Apologie: I doe beseech your Grace to pardon me, Who earnest in the seruice of my God, Deferr'd the visitation of…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
Richard justifies murder as protection. Think of a time when someone justified harmful actions with elaborate explanations.
Write about a time when someone justified harmful actions. Was the justification genuine or false? How could you tell?
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Other theme-by-theme analyses from this book.
Sit with Elizabeth's verbal duel and Buckingham's pause, then notice who gets discarded the moment they hesitate.
Watch him blame the Queen's faction, split allies, and make himself the only safe person in the room.
Follow Clarence's arrest, Hastings's if, and the Guildhall script as Richard makes people feel responsible for their own destruction.
Deep diving the literary elements.
Guides, life skills, and the full library.More ways to read Richard III: guides, life skills, and the wider library.
Unlock study guides and downloads, early access, and exclusive content — and support free access for everyone.
