How is the supernatural utilized to develop the theme of guilt and innocence in Richard III
More details;
- The ghosts come to Richard in chronological order, as well as in increasing horror.
- Each ends their remarks with “despair and die!” to curse Richard and “live flourish!” to wish Richmond luck.
- Appearance of the ghosts:
- Prince Edward and Henry the Sixth: father and son shun Richard and prophesize that “[Richmond] shouldst be king” (5.3.130)
- Clarence: naïve brother of Richard, says to Richmond “the wronged heirs of York do pray for thee” (5.3.138)
- Rivers, Grey and Vaughn & Hastings: members of the Woodville family (Queen Elizabeth)
Enter the Ghosts of the two young princes.
Enter the Ghost of Anne.
Enter the Ghost of Buckingham.
Supernatural in Richard III
Allison, Xenia & Kayla
Conclusion
WORKS CITED
PROPHETIC CURSES-DUCHESS OF YORK
Gray, Brianna. The Prophetess: Queen Margaret’s Curse and their
Significance in Shakespeare’s Richard III. Lexington: VMI, 2004.
Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Richard the Third. New York:
Signet Classics, 1998. Print.
Sophocles and Translated and Introduced by Bernard Knox. Oedipus
the King. New York: Washington Square Press, 1959.
- Richard’s mother curses him, these are her last words to him.
- Emphasizes Richard’s wickedness.
- Like Queen Margaret, she foreshadows his fate:
- “Either thou wilt die by God’s just ordinance Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror” -Duchess of York (4.4.184-185)
- Foreshadows the Ghosts of the two young princes.
After the Ghosts Visit Richard and Richmond
PROPHETIC CURSES-LADY ANNE
- Richard wakes up uneasy and experiences an identity crisis, saying that his “conscience hath a thousand several tongues” (5.3.194).
- He has managed to drive away everyone around him, even his allies.
- He has time to self-reflect and think about his impulsive actions.
- Shakespeare does not necessarily believe in ghosts.
Prophetic Dreams: The Ghosts
- Richard has ghosts visit him before the Battle of Bosworth who tell him of his future misfortune. At this point, this is not cautionary advice but foreshadowing that Richard will lose in the upcoming battle.
- Richmond’s dream is different because his is the only dream that is not negative. His dream foreshadows that he will be the next great king of England and win the battle.
- It is effective because Richard finally starts to realize that he might have gone too far.
- Lady Anne curses Richard’s future wife: “If ever he have wife, let her be made More miserable by the life of him” -Lady Anne (1.2.26-27)
- This is ironic because Anne will be Richard’s future wife.
- She does not find rest as Richard’s wife and does not live long as Richard’s queen.
PROPHETIC CURSES-QUEEN MARGARET
- “The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul! Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou liv’st, And take deep traitors for thy dearest friends! No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine, Unless it be while some tormenting dream” -Margaret (1.3.221-225)
- All the ghosts tell Richard at the end ‘Despair and die!’
PROPHETIC DREAMS-CLARENCE
Exploring the Dialogue of Ghosts: Richard’s Family and Closest Accomplice
Clarence is more upset about the fact that he’s disappointed Edward than he is about Richard killing him. He says methoughts a lot which would imply that he’s trying to rationalize the death as being innocent in his mind. While Clarence’s dream does not foreshadow his exact death it does predict that Richard is the reason behind his death and that he does die by drowning.
- “Now Margaret’s curse is fall’n upon our heads, When she exclaimed on Hastings, you, and I, For standing by when Richard stabbed her son.” -Grey (3.4.14-16)
Prophetic Dreams: Clarence
PROPHETIC CURSES-QUEEN MARGARET
PROPHETIC CURSES
- Shakespeare uses curses to foreshadow many characters’ tragic fates.
- Women are the only people in the play who curse others. These women curse because they lack political and physical power to change their situation.
- The prophetic curses are used to cause harm. The women use curses to bestow misery upon others that have hurt them. However, they cannot alleviate their own misery by cursing others.
- Often times, other characters ignore the power of the women’s curses. Upon the time of their death, they reflect on the curse.
- Similarities to Oedipus
Ghosts in Shakespearean Literature
- The historic play Richard III incorporates supernatural elements such as prophetic dreams, prophetic curses and ghosts to highlight the character’s guilt and to foreshadow their tragic fates.
- Shakespeare effectively uses these in the play to heighten the drama of the plot in conjunction with imagery to create a magnificent story.
- Without the supernatural, the play would be much less entertaining.
PROPHETIC CURSES-QUEEN MARGARET
- Example of the Nobles:
- “Rivers and Dorset, you were standers-by, And so wast thou, Lord Hastings, when my son Was stabbed with bloody daggers. God I pray him. That noe of you live his natural age, But by some unlooked accident cut off! -Queen Margaret (1.3.209-213)
- The young princes: hope that Richmond’s offspring will flourish unlike Richard’s
- Lady Anne: whose last days were plagued with Richard’s torture, “never slept a quiet hour with thee” (5.3.161)
- Buckingham: has the most effective speech; “The first was I that helped thee to the crown/The last was I that felt thy tyranny” (5.3.168-169)
- They all seem to be working together as a team to scare Richard and motivate Richmond
George, Duke of Clarence, dreams of his own death:
“Methought that Gloucester stumbled, and in falling Struck me (that thought to stay him) overboard.”
-Clarence (1.4.18-19)
Exploring the Dialogue of Ghosts: Political Enemies
- In Act I, Scene III, Margaret focuses on cursing mainly Richard and Elizabeth; however, she also curses Dorset, Hastings and Rivers.
- She curses those who watched her husband and son die without taking action to stop it.
- She seeks an ‘eye for an eye.’
- The characters reflect on her curse before their deaths.
- She forewarns them:
- “O, but remember this another day… And say por Margaret was a prophetess.” -Margaret (1.3.298,300)
Prophetic Dreams: Lord Stanley
- Richard’s symbol is the boar. Stanley is suspicious of Richard’s intentions and sends a messenger to allow him to flee from possible danger.
- Hastings thinks Stanley is ridiculous for having such thoughts and wonders why he would “trust the mock’ry of unquiet slumbers” (3.2.27)
Ghosts in Shakespearean Literature
Supernatural in Shakespeare’s Time
Prophetic Dreams: Lord Stanley
- During the Elizabethan era, many people believed in the supernatural and in retribution for people’s sins.
- Shakespeare wrote Richard III with this in mind and incorporated elements of the supernatural to interest and intrigue his audience.
- In Richard III, the most prominent use of the supernatural comes in the form of prophetic curses, prophetic dreams and mystical ghosts.
- Queen Elizabeth will see her family die and she will see her crown being given to another queen.
- As Queen Margaret’s curse is being fulfilled, the characters wish that God listens to her “her prayer for them, as now” for them. (3.4.19)
- Shakespeare heavily relies on ghosts to emphasize Richard’s guilt and impending doom.
- Richard is finally starting to question his previous decisions and feel bad for his wrongdoings.
- Shakespeare promotes the idea of thinking before acting, an important moral.
- E.g. Oedipus in Sophocles’ drama whose stubbornness leads to his inescapable fate
- Supernatural ghosts add an imaginative and visually stimulating factor to the drama, and the use of multiple ghosts effectively foreshadows the downfall of the antihero.
Prophetic dreams serve as cautionary advice in most cases of Richard III they foretell the future and force the dreamer, to take on the task of preventing the calamity. In most cases these attempts to warn the public/affected parties with this newly disclosed information is unsuccessful, because not many are willing to be given unsolicited advice based on a bad dream.
