Richard III

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses ableist language common during the Elizabethan era to describe Richard’s curvature of the spine.

Throughout Richard III, William Shakespeare emphasizes the idea that the Wars of the Roses will be an endless cycle of violent retribution unless a person truly committed to political unity takes the throne. Set at the end of a long conflict between the families of York and Lancaster, Shakespeare demonstrates that the bloodshed on both sides has reached a point where the cycle of violence could become endless.

Shakespeare demonstrates the connection between England’s bloody history and its bloody present by drawing attention to the familial relationships between the characters. Richard murders his family members due to ambition for the throne, rather than to avenge the Lancastrians, but he is only able to seize power because he exploits the division in the court between Queen Elizabeth’s relatives and the other nobles. Queen Margaret sees his actions as a form of divine justice for her own lost son and husband. She plays upon the names shared by both branches of the Plantagenet family, declaring, “Plantagenet doth quit Plantagenet; / Edward for Edward pays a dying debt” (4.