Richard III - Act 4 Quotes Flashcards
Elizabeth, Duchess and Anne are denied access to the young princes
‘the King hath strictly charged the contrary’
Elizabeth acts impulsively to save Dorset
‘O Dorset, speak not to me. Get thee gone’
the Duchess laments bringing Richard into the world
‘O my cursed womb, the bed of death, a cockatrice hast thou hatched to the world’
Anne laments her weakness
‘my woman’s heart grossly grew captive to his homey words’
Elizabeth’s tender address to the Tower
‘pity you ancient stones, those tender babes’
Richard ascends the throne and is immediately dissatisfied
‘But shall we wear these glories for a day?’
Richard puts Buckingham’s loyalty to the test
‘to try if thou be current gold indeed’
Richard is forced to spell out his desires
‘Shall i be plain? I wish the bastards dead’
Stanley brings news of Richmond, and the pressure mounts on King Richard, who resorts to drastic acts
‘rumour it aboard that Anne … is grievous sick’
Tyrrel’s soliloquy describing the death of the princes
‘the tyrannous and bloody act is done’
Richard is on his way to Queen Elizabeth, to attempt to gain her support to marry her daughter, knowing Richmond also seeks her hand
‘to her, i go, a jolly thriving wooer’
Margaret’s soliloquy, launching the final action of the play
‘prosperity begins to mellow and drop into the rotten mouth of death’
the Duchess employs oxymorons to convey emotional intensity and the confusion of events
‘dead life, blind sight, poor mortal living ghost’
Elizabeth and the Duchess assail Richard with accusatory questions
‘thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother Clarence?’
Shakespeare’s emphasis on the incestuous / unnatural nature of Richard’s plan to woo Princess Elizabeth
‘What were I best to say? Her father’s brother should be her lord? Or should I say her uncle?’
