by Dr Ronnie Bai

Created on: June 01, 2010

In Richard III the evil and deceptive personality of Richard is shown through his interactions with other characters of the play. Among those that perhaps best serve to highlight such characteristics of Richard are the two young princesses. Unlike their father King Edward and their uncle Clarence, the two young princes are entirely innocent and free from any obligation of making up for any crime. They are considered to be Richard’s most pathetic victims due to the fact that they simply die because of nothing. Both of the boys are carefully presented to the audience for a most powerful emotional impact intended by the playwright, who altered their real age, making them a lot younger for his play.

The younger prince York has a slightly bigger role to play than the older prince, appearing earlier in the play chatting with his grandmother. He appears to be a naïve but intelligent young boy. This is established to the audience through his conversation with his grandmother, the Duchess of York. He remembers an unfavourable comment made by Richard on him - ‘’ay’, quoth my uncle Gloucester, / ‘small herbs have grace; great weeds do grow apace.’ That is why he tries not to grow fast, so as to prove his worth. Also, as a young boy, he already indicates that he has got fighter’s blood in him. The next time he appears onstage, he announces to Richard  if I live until I be a man/ Or die a soldier as lived a king”. His determination to become a brave soldier when he grows up is very ironical in that the young warrior in the making is facing the imminent imprisonment and subsequent death. By having him speak such lines, Shakespeare perhaps also indicates that the Prince has a vague feeling about what is going to happen to him and his brother, yet he cannot do anything about it, except expressing a wish that can never be fulfilled.

That the younger prince York is naïve is shown in his casual way of talking, disregarding the content of his speech, even if in front of the formidably insidious Richard.  As he joins his elder bother, the crown prince, he proves himself to be even quite witty. He does not forget to remind Richard of his previous unfavourable comment on him: “You said that idle weeds are fast in growth. / The Prince my brother hath out grown me far.” In front of this little chatty boy, Richard speaks relatively fewer words, which is quite uncharacteristic of him, though we as the audience

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