Shakespeare’s Richard III plot summary

• Richard III is a play by William Shakespeare that tells the story of Richard, the Duke of Gloucester.

• Richard lies, manipulates and murders his way to the English throne.

• Richard III is a history play, a type of play that is based either entirely or partly on real events but also has fictional elements.

Watch the following video to learn about the plot of Richard III:

When Shakespeare wrote Richard III, Elizabeth I was on the throne. Her grandfather was Henry VII, the character Richmond in the play. It is thought that Shakespeare presented Richmond in a positive way, and Richard in an especially negative way, to please the queen.

Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, is an ambitious troublemaker.

Richard’s eldest brother has become King Edward IV, after their family, the House of York, defeated the House of Lancaster in battle.

Richard plots against his family and shares his plans with the audience. He manipulates the king, turning him against their other brother Clarence, who is then imprisoned in the Tower of London.

King Edward IV is fooled by Richard’s acting and believes he is loyal. Richard lies to Clarence and promises to help him.

Richard wants to marry Lady Anne to gain more power in the royal court. Lady Anne is grieving the death of her husband and her father-in-law, who were both Lancasters and were killed by Richard in battle.

Richard starts to woo Anne during the funeral procession for her late father-in-law, King Henry VI. King Henry VI’s wounds start to bleed.

At first Anne insults and rejects Richard, and she even spits at him. Richard claims that he killed her husband so he could be with her, and dramatically gives her a sword to kill him. Lady Anne can’t bring herself to kill Richard and agrees to become his wife.

King Edward IV becomes seriously ill and there are conflicts within the royal court. Some of the nobility resent the power held by Queen Elizabeth’s family. Richard hates Queen Elizabeth and encourages the conflict.

Although she has been banished, the widow of Henry VI, Queen Margaret, remains at the royal court. Margaret is bitter and angry because the House of York has defeated the House of Lancaster and her husband and son have been killed. She curses the York family and predicts that many of them will suffer early deaths.

King Edward IV tries to resolve the conflicts in the royal court and Richard pretends to agree. He secretly organises for his brother Clarence to be murdered.

King Edward IV dies and his young son, Edward, becomes king. Richard has been made Lord Protector because his nephew is too young to rule the country. This role gives Richard power in the royal court and allows him to rule in his nephew’s place.

Richard makes an alliance with Buckingham, and together they plot for Richard to become king. Richard pretends to be a loving uncle, but has his nephews put in the Tower of London.

Richard starts to remove the allies of the young prince. Queen Elizabeth’s brother, Earl Rivers, and son from her first marriage, Lord Grey, are arrested and killed.

Richard also accuses Lord Hastings, who is loyal to the prince, of treason and witchcraft. He has Lord Hastings arrested and executed. His aim is to isolate the princes and strengthen his claim to the throne.

To weaken their claim to the throne, Buckingham, Richard’s ally, spreads rumours that the young princes are illegitimate.

Buckingham and Richard stage a fake scene, in which a pious Richard pretends to be unwilling to become king. The next day Richard is crowned and becomes King Richard III.

Queen Elizabeth and Lady Anne learn that Richard is to be crowned king and join together to condemn him. Queen Elizabeth tells her older son from her first marriage, the Marquis of Dorset, to flee to France and join the Earl of Richmond. Richmond is a Lancaster and is in France plotting to overthrow Richard.

Richard orders the murders of the princes and his wife, Lady Anne. He plots to marry his niece, Princess Elizabeth, to strengthen his position as king.

Queen Elizabeth, Queen Margaret, and Richard’s mother, the Duchess of York, are united in their hatred of Richard. The women confront Richard and curse him. The Duchess of York predicts that he will meet a bloody death.

Queen Elizabeth gives Richard the impression that she accepts his proposal to marry Princess Elizabeth, but she secretly promises her daughter will marry Richmond.

Richard refuses to reward Buckingham for his loyalty and so Buckingham escapes to Wales and joins Richmond and his army.

Buckingham is captured and executed by Richard. Before Buckingham is killed, he regrets his actions and remembers Queen Margaret’s curse. He calls upon all of Richard’s dead victims to take their revenge.

Richmond arrives in England to challenge Richard, who starts losing allies to Richmond. Richard holds Lord Stanley’s son hostage to try and stop him from joining Richmond.

Richmond proves that he is a moral leader by praying to God for help and promising to be a just king. The ghosts of Richard’s victims visit Richard and Richmond in their dreams. The ghosts curse Richard and bless Richmond.

Watch the video below to see how a director might stage the procession of ghosts.

At the Battle of Bosworth Field, Richard fights bravely. He loses his horse but still fights on and confronts Richmond. Richmond kills Richard.

Richmond becomes King Henry VII. He promises that his marriage to Princess Elizabeth will end the Wars of the Roses – the conflict between the families of York and Lancaster.