I'm Wendy Armstrong PhD Shakespeare
Studies,
and I'm here in lockdown with my
favourite play which is
Richard III all the histories are great
I enjoy the dirty politics
and the muddy scrum for the slippery
crown of Medieval England.
It slithers through the hands of good
and bad until it
ends up in the orbit of Richard Duke of
Gloucester.
Now I love Richard because there is no
tedious self-examination, there is no
earnest
dissection of moral cost- Hamlet take
note -
Richard knows himself, and he makes a
conscious decision to embrace his flaws,
to do what he does best, and to lie,
betray and slash his way to the top, and
then he gets on and he does it.
Along the way there is my favourite scene
in the whole of Shakespeare,
which is act one scene two - known
affectionately as the Lady Anne scene -
during which Richard persuades Lady Anne
Neville to be his wife.
He has to have a think about it first
"what though i killed her husband
and her father." This could be a bit of an
uphill struggle.
But he has a go anyway and that's good I
like a trier.
Yes she spits at him and she holds a
sword to his throat,
but he gets there in the end. But
remember this is not Romeo we're not in
this for the long haul,
this is Richard with self-interest first
and last
"I'll have her" he declares triumphantly
"but I will not keep her long."
It's it's easy to be charmed by Richard
he talks to the audience all the time,
and with undisguised relish,
but this is a one-way street. Richard
loves Richard
he says. and there is no redemption for
him.
you know that the fun is nearly over
when boring prissy
Henry Richmond appears and starts
talking about Bosworth.
Of course Richard meets the sticky end
that Shakespeare has made him deserve,
but you could be sure that it will be
Richard who is making you smile
long after you leave the theatre.
