Richard III Monologue

the play draws its readers to identify with Richard and thereby to participate in a

William Shakespeare’s Richard III is a historical play that focuses on one of his most famous and complex villainous characters. Richard III or The Duke of Gloucester, who eventually becomes king, is ambitious, bitter, ugly and deformed. He manipulates and murders his way to the throne and sets the tone for the whole play with his very first speech, which is the opening of the play.

Dearest friends, family and the people of Denmark. We gather here today to mourn the loss of the noble prince, loyal son and true friend, Prince Hamlet. But we are not here only to mourn, but to reminisce the times we have spent with him, both the good and the bad and to remember him as the person he was. Prince Hamlet did not live a very fortunate, on the contrary his final weeks were filled with a tragedy none of us should have to bear, but he lived his life to the full and I am sure that he has, in some way touched the lives of all of us here today.

In William Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ there is alot of conflict particularly in act 3 scene 1. The audience find conflict interesting to watch because it creates drama and tension. Shakespeare uses many dramatic devices to present this; some of these techniques include foreshadowing, puns and irony to add to this effect. Another reason why Shakespeare uses conflict in the play is so that the audience are able to get attached to it and watch the conflict grow. The fact that the scene is set in a public place encourages the characters to show off, the characters do this because they want to show their strength and show people that they are not afraid. The conflict in the

Loved ones, I welcome you all to this sorrowful place, to say goodbye to my beloved daughter, Juliet. If Juliet was here with us today, she would be more than overwhelmed with the audience attending her funeral. Standing here before you today is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Words cannot describe the sorrow and loss I am feeling. Juliet was my wife and I’s dearest, only child. She meant the world to us. A very obedient child, yet extremely strong in her dedication to love, rarely disobeying our wishes, only once... For her darling husband Romeo.

Connections of commonality and dissimilarity may be drawn between a multiplicity of texts through an appreciation of the values and attitudes with which they were composed. Accordingly, the values and attitudes of the individual being may be defined as an acute blend of externally induced, or contextual and internally triggered, or inherent factors. Cultural, historical, political, religious and social influences, dictated by the nature of one’s surroundings, imprint a variable pattern of values and attitudes upon the individual. Thus any deviation in any such factor may instigate an alteration of the contextual component of one’s perspective. By contrast, the

* Lady Anne scene – Richard turns from the monstrous Machiavellian character we see throughout most of the play, into a romantic wooer. He uses rhetorical language such as pathos to connect with her emotions which assists him in essentially ‘capturing’ Lady Anne. The fact that Richard had just killed her husband King Edward, with her still being with his coffin just makes Richard seem even more powerful as he still manages to pull Lady Anne into marrying him. Although in this scene Lady Anne proves to hold the knowledge of language too as there is constant stichomythia between the two characters through most of the scene but the line which best shows this is when Richard says “Bid me kill myself. I will do it.” And

She means a lot to him, but now she has rejected him (by returning his

By so doing it was believed that the sins of the dead person would be

Laertes in Ophelia's grave. Hamlet tells her that he never loved her when she returns his

Richard’s aspiration for power caused him to sacrifice his morals and loyalties in order to gain the throne of England. Shakespeare refers to the political instability of England, which is evident through the War of the Roses between the Yorks and Lancastrians fighting for the right to rule. In order to educate and entertain the audience of the instability of politics, Shakespeare poses Richard as a caricature of the Vice who is willing to do anything to get what he wants. As a result, the plans Richard executed were unethical, but done with pride and cunningness. Additionally, his physically crippled figure that was, “so lamely and unfashionable, that dogs bark at me as I halt by them,” reflects the deformity and corruption of his soul. The constant fauna imagery of Richard as the boar reflected his greedy nature and emphasises that he has lost his sense of humanity.

land in the north of England after both the Earl and Anne died. He was

Everyone knows the feeling of insecurity. It can cause us to do unexplainable things, some people shut themselves out, and others experience strong emotions. All and all, everyone experiences it in a unique way. In Richard III, Richard’s own insecurity motivates his actions. The insults and verbal abuse that's directed to him regarding his deformity causes him to take evil out back on others. His use of charisma and confidence to win over women in the text is influenced by his insecurities. Lastly, he turns to villainy as a distraction from deeper problems relating to his self confidence issues.

as he was always off at war…who else to warm the royal bed than the

He was born in Bordeaux France on January 6, 1367. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince and the grandson of King Edward III. Richard succeeded to his grandfather's throne on June 22, 1377, at the young age of ten. Due to his young age the government continued to be run by nobles of the kingdom, in the same fashion it had been in the last years of his grandfather's reign. These nobles were dominated by his Uncle John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.