of exclamation marks makes them sound panic-stricken and fearful. The audience is amused by the dramatic irony of Richard's play acting. For example, just having had Hastings executed, Richard melodramatically confesses:

"So dear I loved the man that I must weep.
I took him for the plainest harmless creature."

This is also very hypocritical of Richard: it was Hastings who was deceived by Richard into believing him to be a "plainest harmless creature".

In Act 3, Scene 7, Richard effectively plays the kind-hearted, pious man, who is "unfit for state and majesty" and does not want to be King. He proclaims,

"I would rather hide me from my greatness"

He acts modestly to make him look incapable of such a task and to hide his true personality. Richard and Buckingham conduct deliberate role play, which they plan beforehand. Buckingham tells Richard to "be not easily won to our requests", so as not to reveal that they are acting by accepting the offer to be king immediately. He directs Richard to:

"Play the maid's part: still answer nay and take it".

This shows cunning on Buckingham's part: he realises that contrary to what they want to do, they must use reverse psychology, to ensure his eventual acceptance seems authentic.

Buckingham also persuades Richard to:

"get a prayer book in your hand
And stand between two churchmen"

Richard does this, which intensifies the image of him as a pious man, too kind-hearted to be king. Buckingham uses this to their advantage:

"Two props of virtue for a Christian prince"

Shakespeare has used the two bishops either side of Richard as props, creating a set in which Richard can convincingly fool the Mayor and Catesby once more. Buckingham calls RIchard a "holy man", adding to his apparent suitability to his role as king. The mayor is particularly taken in by this, speaking of Richard as "his grace", so strong is his belief that Richard is a true and honest man.

He even has Buckingham fooled through his act of the devoted friend. He flatters and deceives Buckingham by calling him:

"My other self, my counsel's consistory,

My oracle, my prophet, my dear cousin"

He pretends that Buckingham is wiser than him, and that Buckingham was the leader, who made all the decisions.

For the majority of the play, Richard is a master "dissembler". However, once he achieves his most desired ambition of being king, he loses his ability to deceive and dissemble. When he attempts to persuade Elizabeth to woo her daughter for him, it is she who deceives Richard. She promises to persuade her daughter to marry Richard:

"...Write to me very shortly,
And you shall understand from me her mind."

However, she conspires against him and agrees for her daughter to marry Richmond instead.

Stanley also deceives Richard. He declares to Richard that he "never was nor never will be false." Yet in the following scene, he declares his allegiance with Richmond. Unlike earlier in the play, Richard is now unable to detect whether someone is loyal to him or not.

Richard's lack of control and ability to act is also reflected in his lack of soliloquies in the second half of the play. He has very little time to think and plan, as he seems to move from one crisis to another. His authority diminishes, and his dwindling confidence is evident in his short imperatives in the penultimate scene:

"Give me another horse! Bind up my wounds!"

His commands are rushed and less thought-out. His state of mind has shifted from introspection to action, as he prepares for battle. It is this loss of the ability to act that leads to Richard's downfall, and consequently brings the play to an end.

Bibliography
"King Richard III" Cambridge School Shakespeare
"Year of the King" by Anthony Sher

Learn more about this author, Jon Parker.
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