http://marrasouk.com. lady anne - character and motivation richard iii act 1 scene 2

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Lady Anne - Character and Motivation Richard III Act 1 scene 2


Lady Anne - who is she?Daughter of Warwick

A powerful noble who changed sides

during the Wars of the Roses

Widow of the Prince of Wales

Killed in battle by Richard

What is she doing in this scene?

Mourning the death of her father-in-law,

Henry Vl.

She is with the open coffin

Also killedby Richard


So she doesn’t like Richard? Correct!

How does she show this in the scene? She uses directlanguage, linked

to evil the devil. thou dreadful minister of hell

Foul devil thy hellShe refers to the crimes

Richard has committed

thy heinous deeds

thy butcheriesThy is repeated for emphasis

in the speech“thy” and “ thou”, the 2nd person singular,

used here by Lady Anne to showcontempt for Richard


Anne is not afraid of Richard

She accuses him of making Henry’s corpse bleed

’tis thy presence that exhales this blood

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

She makes quick-wittedresponses to Richard,

involving word-play

Fairer than tongue can name thee

Fouler than heart can think thee

R=

A=She refuses to give way to him


She directly accuses Richard of killing her husband and King Henry

Queen Margaret saw Thy murderous falchion smoking in his blood –

Didst thou not kill this King?

She is angry when Richard is sarcastic to herDost grant me, hedgehog?

And thou unfit for any place but hell!

So Anne is holding out against Richard


So how does Richard win her over?1. Introduces sexual element - lie with

2. He says her beauty was to blame

But she is still not won over.

2. Spits at him

Your bed-chamber.

Your beauty that did haunt me in my sleep

1. argues back If I thought that, I tell thee, homicide, These nails should rend that beauty from my cheeks.

Highly unusual act for anaristocratic lady

She is in astate of grief where she does unthinkable things


Richard tries different lines of argument with Anne

1. He says he has suffered

She is scornful

2. He brings in the sexual element again

Those eyes of thine from mine have drawn salt tears,

Teach not thy lip such scorn – for it was made For kissing, lady,

This seems to wearLady Anne down

Perhaps at this pointshe feels attracted towards him, despite herself.


Richard takes a calculated step

She has the opportunity to stab him

She takes his sword in her hands

I lay it naked to the deadly stroke, And humbly beg the death upon my knee.

But she doesn’t kill himeven though he encourages her She says

Arise, dissembler.

Get up hypocrite-she’s not fooled

A milder insult than the ones she used earlier

It shows he’s winning her over

This is the turning point and later

in the scene she accepts his ring


Why does Anne allow herself to be persuaded by Richard?

She’s in a state of grief and is not in

control of her emotions

Which do you think are the most important?

Richard's powers of persuasion- he doesn’t give up.

Richard is attractive e.g. to other characters in the play

Hastings, Buckingham, Clarence

Fear : if you’re Richard’s friendyou’re safe!

Anne feels guilty - maybe it was her beautythat made Richard kill her husband

The play takes place in a bloody and violent setting. Brother kills brother. People are executed for minor reasons.

Henry Vl’s corpse starts to bleed.In this setting a woman agreeing to marry her husband’s

killer is yet another shocking event.

Anne is sexually attracted to Richard


Richard lll SATs 2008

Character in section 2 A4s4 lines 199-342


Two characters in this section

The audience wants to know who will win

Richard Queen Elizabeth

What does Richard want? What Queen Elizabeth does want?

To marry Queen Elizabeth's daughter

also called-Elizabeth

To stop Richardmarrying her daughter.


In some ways this is similar to section 1

In section 1 Richard was trying to get

Lady Anne to marry him, after

murdering her husband

In section 2 Richard is asking Queen

Elizabeth if he can marry her daughter,

Elizabeth after he has

murdered her sons

Will he be successful this time?

Why marry Elizabeth? Because Richmond wants to marry her- it will strengthen his claim to the throne

His wife Anne is dead


Richard tries to take command of the situation

Stay, madam. I must talk a word with you.

But Elizabethknows what he is after

I have no more sons…for thee to slaughter!

praying nuns, not weeping queens –

She says her daughters will be…

She warns Richard to keep away

level not to hit their lives.Don’t aim


How does Richard try and win her over?

With compliments about her daughter Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.

Elizabeth threatens to say that her daughter is illegitimate

Slander myself as false to Edward’s bed,

Why might this stop Richard wanting to marry her? Her life is safest

only in her birth.

He argues back

Elizabeth points out that birth didn’t save her sons


Richard protests his innocence

You speak as if that I had slain my cousins.

Elizabeth responds angrily

Cousins, indeed! And by their uncle cozened – Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life!

She picks up on cousins cheatedPlays on the word

The alliteration builds up the rhythm

To the powerful conclusionto the line

It shows thatElizabeth willstand up to

RichardShe’s angry at her loss andprotective of her daughter


Elisabeth accuses Richard: he is responsible for the death of her sons

He may not have held the knife that..

lanced their tender hearts,

But he gave the order

Her grief is so wild that she wishes

my nails were anchored in thine eyes

Elizabeth has been provoked and is now on the attack

I intend more good to you or yours Than ever you or yours by me were harmed!

Richard lies to cover upHe’s just had the princes murdered

What tone of voice would the actors use to say these lines?


Richard is trying to win Elizabeth over by making promises for her children

dignity and height of fortune, advancement

But Elizabeth rebuffs him

Richard is devious - he hasn’t yet mentioned marriage or her daughter

endow a child of thineHe keepsit vague

he continues to declare his innocence

Up to some scaffold, there to lose their heads? She’s sarcastic

Which thou supposest I have done to thee.


Richard now becomes more direct

from my soul I love thy daughter.Elizabeth plays on words in her reply

That thou dost love my daughter ‘from’ thy soul. So from thy soul’s love didst thou love her brothers,

Elizabethuses ‘from’

in the sense of“far away”

When Richard suggests he will make her

daughter his Queen, Elizabeth is contemptuous

What, thou?

Familiar, dismissive


Richard suggests Elizabeth can teach him how to woo her daughter

Elizabeth’s response is ironic

Send to her, by the man that slew her brothers, A pair of bleeding hearts. Thereon engrave

‘Edward’ and ‘York’. Then haply will she weep.

Richard

Richard knows he’s being mocked

Say that I did all this for love of her. When he tried this line earlier with

Lady Anne it workedBut not this time

Why hasn’t it worked this time?


Richard tries to convince Queen Elizabeth that he should marry her daughter

If I did take the kingdom from your sons, To make amends I’ll give it to your daughter.

Almost admits he killed the princes

This is unlikelyto convinceElizabeth

An unsophisticated

argument

Richard sees things in terms of the throne

Richard never refers to her by name

He also saysa grandmother

is similar to a mother

They are as children but one step below, Another

unconvincing argument

All this does is emphasise that Richard has killed her sons


Up until now Richard has been antagonistic to the Queen’s family

He promises to call the Queen's

son Dorset, “brother”and give him

high promotions and great dignity.

Richard becomes lyrical

The liquid drops of tears that you have shed Shall come again, transformed to orient pearl,

He wants Elizabeth to woo her

daughter for him

Acquaint the Princess With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys.

Ironic when we consider what has happened to his wife Anne


Richard’s speech builds up to a climaxHe boasts that he will

beat the rebel BuckinghamHe sees himself as

the conquering heroBound with triumphant garlands will I come, And lead thy daughter to a conqueror’s bed –Links victory in

battle to victory in love

But the Queen is unconvincedhe that slew her brothers and her uncles?

Richmond marries her at the end of the play.

At the end of this section Richard has

not persuaded the Queen. He does not marry her

daughter Elizabeth.

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