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Act I, of Richard III starts off with a quarrel between Queen Elizabeth and Richard of Gloucester. Queen Elizabeth feels that Gloucester envies the advancement of her family. Richard then strikes back blaming her for his brother Clarence? s imprisonment. Old Queen Margaret enters this scene at first as a spectator.
After listening for a while she interrupts with a comment here and there. Margaret accuses Richard and Queen Elizabeth of arguing over what they took from her. She starts to curse everyone including Queen Elizabeth, Edward IV, Rivers, Hastings, Dorset, and Buckingham. She blames them for the deaths of her husband Henry IV and her son Richard Prince of Wales, even though she doesn?
t have clean hands either. Margaret especially curses Richard of Gloucester. She refers to him as a? poisonous bunch-backed toad. ? By referring to his deformities, she feels that evil has marked Richard forever. She wishes that he be stricken by conscience, that the friends he thinks he has become traitors and that he looses sleep unless he suffers from tormenting dreams.
Margaret also said that Richard would win the crown through blood and lose it through blood. Towards the end of the play we start to see Margaret? s curse come into action. We learn form Lady Anne of Richard?
s? timorous dreams. ? His dreams were said to be so fearful he would sometimes jump out of bed and leap around the chamber. This was an indication of the potency of Queen Margaret? s curse.
We also learn of Richard? s unquiet mind in Act V. The night before the battle, Richard has a terrible dream that all the ghosts of those he murdered come to visit him. These same ghosts also visit Richmond but on a much happier note. The ghosts predict Richard?
s downfall, while guaranteeing Richmond? s triumph in gaining the crown. All of these actions are a result of Richard? s conscience coming out to plague him. Since he feels no remorse while he is awake, Richard has a cowardly conscience.
This conscience prevents him from sleeping. But when Richard does sleep, it is not a peaceful sleep. This is just as Old Margaret wished. Richard? s downfall as king is brewing minute by minute. We also start to see Richard?
s friends turn against him, since they were only friends through fear anyway. In Act IV, King Richard challenges Buckingham? s loyalty by asking him to murder the two princes. Buckingham hesitates to give him an answer and asks for time to consider. Richard now feels betrayed and will no longer confide in Buckingham.
Fearing for his head, Buckingham flees to help Richmond win the crown. Also, Lord Stanley, Richmond? s stepfather has been relaying messages to the other side. When Richard accuses Stanley of opposing him, Stanley promises he is devoted. Richard insists that Stanley use his son George? s head as collateral to prove he is trustworthy.
All in all Queen Margaret definitely has a knack for curses. Everything that she wished upon Richard came true. He was troubled by his conscience, lost sleep to tormenting dreams, and he won and lost the crown through blood.
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Research essay sample on Downfall Richard
