Richard III Ch. 16: Act IV, Scene 3: The Mothers' Curses

William Shakespeare

Act IV, Scene 3: The Mothers' Curses

0:00

0:00 / 0:00

0:00

Summary

Margaret emerges from hiding to say prosperity now mellows into death's mouth; she has lurked to watch her enemies wane. Elizabeth mourns her tender babes as unblown flowers. The Duchess can scarcely speak. Margaret claims ancient sorrow's precedence and catalogs the dead: I had an Edward till Richard killed him, I had a husband till Richard killed him, and the same for Elizabeth and the Duchess's Richards.

The women trade killings until Margaret calls Richard a hell-hound from the Duchess's womb with teeth before his eyes to lap lambs' blood. She prophesies earth gapes and hell burns for his sudden end. Elizabeth begs Margaret to teach her cursing: compare dead happiness with living woe, think the babes sweeter and the killer fouler. Margaret exits; the Duchess says let bitter words smother her damned son.

Richard enters on expedition and orders drums to drown the tell-tale women railing on the Lord's anointed. The Duchess demands where Clarence and little Ned are; Elizabeth asks for her children. Richard will not hear reproof. The Duchess catalogs his tetchy infancy, furious schooldays, and bloody age, then delivers her grievous curse: her prayers fight for his enemies, Edward's children's souls whisper against him, bloody thou art and bloody will be thy end. Elizabeth says amen.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Reading the Grief Ledger

Shared loss becomes evidence when survivors stop competing and start counting. Margaret lists every Richard killing, teaches Elizabeth to curse, and the Duchess ends with bloody thou art while Elizabeth says amen.

Treat repeated naming of the same harm as indictment, especially when the leader responds with drums instead of answers.

Coming Up in Chapter 17

Richard stops Elizabeth and proposes to marry her daughter, offering to beget new heirs from the blood of the sons he slaughtered Richard stops Elizabeth after the Duchess's curse. She says she has no more royal sons for him to slaughter and vows her daughters shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens..

Lesson

What this chapter proves — the pattern beneath the scene

In this chapter, the lesson is Grief Aimed at a Vote.

The card below names the pattern this chapter proves — carry it with you into the original text.

Explore all Lessons

Grief Aimed at a Vote

The mothers will not be managed. Margaret, the Duchess, and Elizabeth name the bodies. Richard's answers thin out because curses do not need an audience the way a prayer book does. Feeling that cannot be redirected starts to look like a problem instead of a tool.

Key Insight

Performative emotion fails when the witnesses will not play. Grief that names the killer is harder to costume than grief that asks to be comforted.

“Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end.”

Explore full theme analysis

PreviousPrevious Chapter NextNext Chapter

Original text

1,623 wordscomplete

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…

Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.

Critical Thinking Exercise

10 minutes

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?

Master this chapter. Complete your experience

Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature

Buy at

Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats

King Lear

William Shakespeare

Also by William Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Also by William Shakespeare

Dead Souls

Nikolai Gogol

Explores power & authority

Noli Me Tángere

José Rizal

Explores power & authority

More lessons from Richard III

Other theme-by-theme analyses from this book.

Deep diving the literary elements.

Act IV, Scene 3: The Mothers' Curses

Summary