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10 Listening: Richard woos Anne a) While reading, listen to the following dialogue, then sum up the passage and explain Richard’s line of argument. Richard III is not only a history play, it is also a brilliant study in psychology as well as in politics. The Tudor dynasty wanted the historical Richard to appear as a bloody tyrant. Shakespeare went much further in his play, trying to show motifs in the actions of such a ruler. In spite of the fact that Richard has killed Lady Anne’s husband and his father, King Henry VI, he tries to convince her here that he wants to marry her. Only moments before she was violently cursing him and spitting at him. Now he kneels before her, gives her his sword and asks her to kill him if she will not forgive him and love him. Richard: Teach not thy lips such scorn; for they were made For kissing, lady, not for such contempt. If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive, Lo, here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword, Which if thou please to hide in this true breast, And let the soul forth that adoreth thee, I lay it naked to the deadly stroke, And humble beg the death upon my knee. (He lays his breast open: she offers at it with his sword.) Richard: Nay, do not pause, for I did kill King Henry – But ’twas thy beauty that provoked me. Nay, now dispatch; ’twas I that stabbed young Edward – But ’twas thy heavenly face that set me on. (She drops the sword.) Take up the sword again, or take up me. Anne: Arise, dissembler; though I wish thy death, I will not be thy executioner. Richard: Then bid me kill myself, and I will do it. Anne: I have already. Richard: That was in thy rage: Speak it again, and even with the word, This hand, which for thy love did kill thy love, Shall for thy love kill a far truer love. To both their deaths shalt thou be accessary. Anne: I would I knew thy heart. Richard: ’Tis figured in my tongue. Anne: I fear me both are false. Richard: Then never was man true. Anne: Well, well, put up your sword. Richard: Say then my peace is made. Anne: That shalt thou know hereafter. Richard: But shall I live in hope? Anne: All men, I hope, live so. Richard: Vouchsafe to wear this ring. Anne: To take is not to give. Richard: Look how my ring encompasseth thy finger: Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart; Wear both of them, for both of them are thine. […] (Anne leaves and the corpse of her husband is taken away. Richard speaks to the audience.) Richard: Was ever woman in this humour woo’d? Was ever woman in this humour won? I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long. What, I that killed her husband and his father: To take her in her heart’s extremest hate, With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes, The bleeding witness of her hatred by, 7  Fact file The spoken word Much more so than today, Elizabethans went to hear and not just watch a play. The audience – from the groundlings to royalty – wanted to be addressed. Words and rhythm created mood and atmosphere or provided references to certain characters. Shakespeare’s plays and his language are both powerful and physical. His characters’ dialogues are often a direct source of dramatic energy and action. Reading the text out loud can help you understand its deeper meanings. F 11 3.8 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 146 Shakespeare live Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv