Richard III: Strength And Weaknesses

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on what’s happening and remind them of Richard’s plans. Prophecies also helped the development of the story. In the first act the audience is notified of a prophecy that was make to the king saying that he would be dethroned by someone bearing the initial "G". This resulted in Clarence being sent to the tower and eventually being murdered by Richard. The most important curse in Richard III occurs in Act I Scene III when Queen Margaret put a curse on the entire royal family. Throughout the play the curses she put on each person come true. An example of this is when Margaret says that Queen Elizabeth will outlive her children and mourn their deaths. The most important form of foreshadowing came in the form of dreams. Dreams were used frequently by Shakespeare when their was no other way he could find to advance the plot. The major dreams that occurred were the one that Clarence had before he was murdered and the dreams Richard and Richmond had prior to the battle. Clarence dreamed that ...

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by Richard in Act One, Scene One, establish Richard as the focal point of the play and give the audience a good idea of what’s about to happen. Another sign that Richard is the most important character is that Shakespeare greatly underdeveloped the other important characters. Richard’s female love, Lady Anne, is only mentioned in two of the five acts. Shakespeare let the audience forget who Anne was by not even bringing up her name again until she married Richard. The second blatantly underdeveloped character was Richard’s nemesis Richmond. Richmond didn’t become a character in the play until the final acts when Richard was already beginning to slip from power. Weak character ...

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