A Study of the Dramatic Roles of Women in Richard III Essays -- five f

There are five female characters in the renovate Richard III. Of these five there are four central female characters the Duchess of York, Richards get under ones skin Anne who later becomes Richards wife Queen Margaret who was the former queen and Richards arch oppositeness and Queen Elizabeth, the current queen. The final female character who flirts a modest role in the play is Queen Elizabeths daughter, Elizabeth, but she is merely a pawn in Richards plan and we never meet her. Each cleaning woman has a significant role in Richard III and is vital to the book. Anne is the start female character that we meet in the text (act 1 paroxysm 2), which is where she is wooed by the ultimate villain in the play, Richard. Anne has just lost her married man and is wallowing in self-pity when Richard appears. Anne is a vulnerable and weak character throughout the play although she appears bold and vengeful at the beginning of this scene, trying to disarm Richard with words, Dost select me, hedgehog? Then God grant me too/Thou mayst be damned for that wicked deed Anne is confused and emotionally unstable which makes her more than susceptible to Richards charms. Annes dramatic role in the play is to reveal Richards spot to charm and manipulate which he does exceptionally. Although the audience know of his true intentions and that he does not plan to keep her long we are glad that he has succeeded because he is the ordinary villain that we love to hate, although Anne must be corrupt to succumb to him and his charms. He admits that he protrudeed her husband and her father-in-law Nay, do not pause for I did kill King Henry/But twas thy beauty that provoked me/twas I ... ...use they consent all been victims of King Richard and finally realise that they have to support from each one other because they have no-one else. Queen Elizabeth asks Queen Margaret for instructions in malediction O thou well skill ed in curses, stay a eyepatch/And teach me how to curse mine enemies which I believe is her way of aspect sorry and treating her as an equal. The wo hands in this play are vital to the script and although they have no power whatsoever in this play, without them neither would Richard. mathematical function of each of the female characters role was to show that in their era it was the men that held the power and the women were entirely powerless which Shakespeare presented superbly.Works CitedShakespeare, William. Richard III. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. (New York W.W. Norton and Company, 1997), 515-600.