Richard III Act 5 – “I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die…”

Richard III Act 5

“I have set my life upon a cast, 

And I will stand the hazard of the die…”

It is All Soul’s Day as Act V ‘Richard III’ begins. Buckingham is inevitably led to his execution. Meanwhile, Richmond’s forces advance towards Richard’s band of fear-driven allies:

“Every man’s conscience is a thousand swords

To fight against this guilty homicide…”

Shakespeare dramatically intensifies the action and quickens the pace and Margaret’s curses echo and resonate across the night and come to rest above the battleground.

King Richard and his men are bunking down for the night after Richard tries to raise a sense of patriotism in his men – unsuccessfully. Shakespeare is still to write his rousing ‘Henry V’ speech so Richard’s address wavers between mock Roman oratory and a genuine attempt at patriotic prose. While Richard consoles himself in his superior numbers on the battlefield, secretly he harbors fears:

“It is now dead midnight.

Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.

What do I fear? Myself?”

But he is not without some remorse or self-contemplation.

“My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,

And every tongue brings in a several tale,

And every tale condemns me for a villain…”

But the dreams of both Richard and Richmond are blanketed in a red carpet parade of all the spirits of those who Richard has killed. They condemn him, taunt him and predict his death on the battlefield while voicing their support for Richmond. Shakespeare’s words and ideas seep out through the seams of this scene and through the images of Richard and Richmond who are sleeping and the appearance of a myriad of ghosts. The imagination of any director or designer runs riot with the possibilities. Richard wakes in fright while Richmond wakes to inspire his men with a little bit of morning oratory. King Richard fights valiantly but after loosing his horse, his fate seems set in the “hazard of die”. Richard faces Richmond in battle and Richmond wins the day. The stage directions carefully craft the demise of Richard III. His death is as inevitable as the cloak of the Duchess of York’s curses and paranoia which he donned after his coronation. His final cry for “A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” is a last cry of desperation far removed from the valiant calculation of Richard as seen in the Henry VI plays and evident in the opening two acts of ‘Richard III’.

Stanley, whose son was next in line for Richard’s chopping block, brings the crown to Richmond and Richmond is declared king. Richmond, now King Henry VII, honors the bodies of all the dead with burial and grants a pardon to all of Richard’s soldiers. He triumphantly declares his intention to marry the young Elizabeth, daughter of the former Queen Elizabeth and the late King Edward IV. The river of blood is dammed, the red and white roses are joined to form the pink rose of the unification of the Houses of Lancaster and York. Richmond ends with suitable declarations and promises that:

“We will unite the white rose and the red:

Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction,

That long have frown'd upon their enmity!”

The Bard and I return in raunchy love poem ‘Venus and Adonis’.