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Richard III

By William Shakespeare - Stage play

Stage playStageACT I, Scene 3

Roles

  • Queen Margaret (former Queen) - Adult (36-50), Senior (>50), Female

About this piece

Queen Margaret curses Elizabeth and Richard

Summary

The play begins at the end of a long civil war between the house of Lancaster, that ruled with King Henry VI, and the house of York. The house of York has prevailed and Edward IV is now king of England. His younger brothers are Clarence and Richard, the Duke of Gloucester. Richard plots against noblemen and even his own family to become the future king. He spreads false rumors about his brother Clarence, plans to marry Lady Anne, the young widow of Henry VI's son, Prince Edward, and eliminate the Queen Elizabeth and her sons. In this scene Richard is arguing with Queen Elizabeth. She accuses him of being hostile to her and her sons and he accuses her of hoping for King Edward IV's death and of spreading false rumors about him. Queen Margaret (that is the former queen, wife of the late Henry VI), enters the scene and curses everybody, she hopes that Elizabeth will outlive her glory and see her husband and sons die, he curses Richard for being responsible for her husband and son's death and noblemen Dorset, Rivers and Hastings for letting Richard kill her son.

Tone

AngryScoldingLamenting

Use cases

classaudition
View on Actorama

Library metadata only. SceneFiend never includes script text here - pick up the published version to rehearse.

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