Richard III

The wars of the roses have stopped, and Edward IV is king, but not for long-not with Edward so sick and with his brother Richard plotting to kill any relatives who stand between him and the throne.  Various bloody and nonbloody murders ensue until Richard finally gains the throne and almot immediately loses it to Henry tudor, Henry VII, father of the Tudor dynasty.

Richard may be the bad guy, but this is most definitely his play.  He is almost always on stage and is talked about when he's off.  As far as pure evil goes, he  seems pretty good, seducing the audience almost as well as he seduces Anne in the second scene.  When you think about it, that entire scene really isn't necessary to his plot.  Maybe he really does love her-and yet he seems so calculating about it.  That is one smooth bastard.  I kind of feel sorry for Buckingham, who ends up destroyed basically on a whim, but he should have known how dangerous Richard is.  As for the rest of them, I genuinely feel sorry.  As for Richmond (Henry), he seems like the play's version of Vice President Gore-maybe he has some leadership ability, but he'll put you to sleep before you can find out.  For a much better analysis of this play, read the essay at the end of the Folger Library edition.  One of the lines from the last few scenes, Richard's "I think there be six Richmonds in the field", is sometimes taken to mean that the other army is fighting like it is six times its real size, but it reminds me of the battle in Henry IV part 1, when several soldiers are dressed up like King Henry.  In other words, there literally are six Richmonds in the field.

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