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Richard III | Language: Oaths, Curses, and Prophecies

Frances Shirley comments on the seriousness in Elizabethan society of making oaths or swearing and how this is revealed in Shakespeare’s Richard III. David Bevington’s piece highlights the power of curses, particularly self-curses, in the play. In the third selection, Kristian Smidt focuses on prophecies and points out that while Richard is not a real prophet, he invents prophecies in order to control other characters in the play.

As many critics have observed, Richard III is filled with oaths, curses, and prophecies. E. M. W. Tillyard argues that they are an expression of the play's theme of divine retribution, where the punishment of the feuding families, the destruction of Richard, and the final union of the houses of Lancaster and York are predestined. Margaret, who dispenses a significant portion of the curses and prophecies against the other characters in the play, is described by A. C. Hamilton as the "present witness to previous wrongs" and the embodiment of destiny and revenge.

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