The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [108]
That he should be so abject, base and poor,
To choose for wealth and not for perfect love.
Henry is able to enrich his queen,
And not to seek a queen to make him rich:
So worthless peasants bargain for their wives,
As market-men for oxen, sheep, or horse.
Marriage is a matter of more worth
Than to be dealt in by attorneyship;
Not whom we will; but whom his grace affects,
Must be companion of his nuptial bed:
And therefore, lords, since he affects her most,
It most of all these reasons bindeth us,
In our opinions she should be preferr'd.
For what is wedlock forced but a hell,
An age of discord and continual strife?
Whereas the contrary bringeth bliss,
And is a pattern of celestial peace.
Whom should we match with Henry, being a king,
But Margaret, that is daughter to a king?
Her peerless feature, joined with her birth,
Approves her fit for none but for a king;
Her valiant courage and undaunted spirit,
More than in women commonly is seen,
Will answer our hope in issue of a king;
For Henry, son unto a conqueror,
Is likely to beget more conquerors,
If with a lady of so high resolve
As is fair Margaret he be link'd in love.
Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me
That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she.
KING.
Whether it be through force of your report,
My noble Lord of Suffolk, or for that
My tender youth was never yet attaint
With any passion of inflaming love,
I cannot tell; but this I am assured,
I feel such sharp dissension in my breast,
Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,
As I am sick with working of my thoughts.
Take, therefore, shipping; post, my lord, to France;
Agree to any covenants, and procure
That Lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come
To cross the seas to England, and be crown'd
King Henry's faithful and anointed queen:
For your expenses and sufficient charge,
Among the people gather up a tenth.
Be gone, I say; for till you do return,
I rest perplexed with a thousand cares.
And you, good uncle, banish all offense:
If you do censure me by what you were,
Not what you are, I know it will excuse
This sudden execution of my will.
And so, conduct me where, from company,
I may revolve and ruminate my grief.
[Exit.]
GLOUCESTER.
Aye, grief, I fear me, both at first and last.
[Exeunt Gloucester and Exeter.]
SUFFOLK.
Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd; and thus he goes,
As did the youthful Paris once to Greece,
With hope to find the like event in love,
But prosper better than the Troyan did.
Margaret shall now be queen, and rule the king;
But I will rule both her, the king and realm.
[Exit.]
RICHARD III
This history play is believed to have been written in 1591 and depicts the Machiavellian rise to power of Richard III of England. Richard III concludes Shakespeare's first tetralogy and it is considered by many to be one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. After Hamlet, it is the longest play in Shakespeare’s canon, being rarely performed unabridged, with minor characters often being removed entirely from the drama.
The play begins with Richard describing his brother King Edward IV’s accession to the throne and his own devious schemes to usurp it from him. Shakespeare presents Richard III as a murderous and deformed hunchback, far exaggerating the real life person. The main source of the play is Hall’s chronicle known as Union.
The front page of the first Quarto, 1597
The ‘infamous’ Richard III
CONTENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ACT I. SCENE 1.
SCENE 2.
SCENE 3.
SCENE 4.
ACT II. SCENE 1.
SCENE 1.
SCENE 2.
SCENE 3.
SCENE 4.
ACT III. SCENE 1.
SCENE 1.
SCENE 2.
SCENE 3.
SCENE 4
SCENE 5.
SCENE 6.
SCENE 7.
ACT IV. SCENE 1.
SCENE 1.
SCENE 2.
SCENE 3.
SCENE 4.
SCENE 5.
ACT V. SCENE 1.
SCENE 1.
SCENE 2.
SCENE 3.
SCENE 4.
SCENE 5.
Laurence Olivier in the 1955 film adaptation
The 1995 film adaptation, with Sir Ian McKellen in the title role
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
EDWARD THE FOURTH
Sons to the King
EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES afterwards KING EDWARD V
RICHARD, DUKE OF YORK,
Brothers to the King