Jan 2, 2010

Richard III | Act I Summary

Scene 1
The play opens in an unidentified street of London around the year 1480. Richard of Gloucester, the chief protagonist of the play, is the brother of King Edward IV and of George, the Duke of Clarence, most often called "Clarence" in the play. Alone on stage, the figure of Richard, misshapen with a hunchback from his premature birth, first tells us that the recent civil wars between the houses of Lancaster and York are now over, that Richard's side (York) is victorious, but that he himself is discontent. Being "ill-formed" by nature, Richard is not...