Chapter 16
Act IV, Scene 3: The Mothers' Curses
Scena Tertia. Enter old Queene Margaret Mar. So now prosperity begins to mellow, And drop into the rotten mouth of death: Heere in these Confines slily haue I lurkt, To watch the waining of mine enemies. A dire induction, am I witnesse to, And will to France, hoping the consequence Will proue as bitter, blacke, and Tragicall. Withdraw thee wretched Margaret, who comes heere? Enter Dutchesse and Queene. Qu. Ah my poore Princes! ah my tender Babes: My vnblowed Flowres, new appearing sweets: If yet your gentle soules flye in the Ayre, And be not fixt in doome perpetuall, Houer…
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Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"I had an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him: I had a Husband, till a Richard kill'd him: Thou had'st an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him: Thou had'st a Richard, till a Richard kill'd him"
Context: Margaret claiming signieurie of sorrow among the mourning women
Margaret turns grief into arithmetic. Every line names the same killer and makes separate losses one indictment. The ledger is the weapon.
In Today's Words:
Margaret lists who Richard killed in each of their lives: her Edward and husband, Elizabeth's Edward, the Duchess's Richard. That is grief turned into a charge sheet everyone can hear. When survivors begin naming the same person for every loss in the room, listen for the pattern, not the competition over who hurts most.
"From forth the kennell of thy wombe hath crept A Hell-hound that doth hunt vs all to death: That Dogge, that had his teeth before his eyes, To worry Lambes, and lap their gentle blood:"
Context: Margaret cursing Richard to the Duchess of York
Margaret makes the mother see the son as origin of the hunt. The womb becomes kennel because Richard's violence is bred, not accidental.
In Today's Words:
Margaret tells the Duchess a hell-hound crawled from her womb to hunt them all, a dog with teeth before his eyes that kills lambs. The image forces the mother to see origin, not excuse. When someone names where the harm started in the family line, the conversation leaves management and enters reckoning.
"Decline all this, and see what now thou art. For happy Wife, a most distressed Widdow: For ioyfull Mother, one that wailes the name: For one being sued too, one that humbly sues: For Queene, a very Caytiffe, crown'd with care:"
Context: Margaret stripping Elizabeth's former glory before leaving for France
Margaret reverses every station Elizabeth once held. The litany is not insult; it is mirror. What you scorned in me is now your whole estate.
In Today's Words:
Margaret tells Elizabeth to set aside her former glory and see what she is now: distressed widow, wailing mother, queen crowned with care. Status reversals become lessons when the person who warned you reads your losses back in order. When a rival you once dismissed becomes your instructor, the lesson is late and exact.
"Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end: Shame serues thy life, and doth thy death attend."
Context: The Duchess's final curse before Richard marches on
The mother stops pleading and pronounces. She binds his present to his ending and sends her prayers to the other army.
In Today's Words:
The Duchess tells Richard he is bloody and bloody will be his end, that shame serves his life and waits for his death. A parent cursing a living child is the last moral line crossed. When the person who bore him speaks only in verdict, the family has finished pretending repair is possible.
Thematic Threads
One Name, Many Losses
In This Chapter
Margaret catalogs Edward, husband, and Richard deaths until each woman hears the same killer in every line
Development
Private grief becomes shared charge sheet before Richard enters
In Your Life:
When separate victims start listing the same person without coordinating, believe the ledger before the institution responds.
Drums Against Tell-tale Words
In This Chapter
Richard orders trumpets and alarms to drown the women railing on the Lord's anointed
Development
Noise fails; the Duchess still delivers the curse that makes Elizabeth say amen
In Your Life:
If a leader raises volume, spectacle, or process to bury witness testimony, treat the testimony as already true.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
This is not a test. Five prompts guide you through the chapter, from how it opens to how it closes, so you notice context and rhythm rather than facts to memorize. Sit with each question in your own words. When you see "One way to read it," treat it as a starting point, not the only answer.
- 1
Why does Margaret claim signieurie of sorrow before listing the Edwards and Richards?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
Margaret says she has lurked to watch her enemies wane and claims oldest grief gives her authority. She catalogs shared losses—I had an Edward, I had a husband—until each woman recognizes the same killer in her ledger.
- 2
What does Margaret's hell-hound speech force the Duchess to confront?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
Margaret calls Richard a hell-hound from the Duchess's womb with teeth before his eyes to lap lambs' blood. The Duchess must see her son not as misguided prince but as monster she bore.
- 3
How does Margaret's lesson on cursing turn memory into sharper language?
application • mediumOne way to read it
Margaret teaches Elizabeth to compare dead happiness with living woe, think the babes sweeter and the killer fouler. Memory becomes ammunition: grief gains precision when victims compare notes.
- 4
Why does Richard order drums when the women ask where the children and Clarence are?
application • deepOne way to read it
Richard cannot answer where the children are. Drums drown tell-tale women railing on the Lord's anointed, replacing testimony with military noise.
- 5
When have you seen survivors name the same harm together after staying silent alone?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
Separate grief stays private; shared ledger turns venting into indictment. When victims compare notes, what felt unspeakable alone becomes pattern everyone can name aloud.
Critical Thinking Exercise
The Cost Analysis
The women's lament turns private grief into a shared ledger. Think of a time when naming losses together changed what people were willing to say aloud.
Consider:
- •What changes when separate victims compare notes?
- •Why does Richard fear tell-tale women more than armed men here?
- •How does the Duchess's amen from Elizabeth change the force of the curse?
- •What is the difference between venting and indictment?
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you or others listed the same source of harm in one room. What shifted after the ledger was spoken?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 17: Act IV, Scene 3 (cont.): The Monstrous Proposal
Richard stops Elizabeth and proposes to marry her daughter, offering to beget new heirs from the blood of the sons he slaughtered.
