Richard III: The Play By William Shakespeare

In the play, Richard III, by William Shakespeare, there is a unique dynamic between men and women, concerning the role of gender. While this is one of Shakespeare’s history plays, the theme of gender is important to analyze because of the time period that this play is set in. However, women seem to have a rather hidden power over the males in society in this play. The idea that women have more power over the men, if not explicitly, then implicitly, in the play, answers the necessary question of what Richard III tells us about the role of gender and women having the power to curse and hold power that only men should have.

The first theme that represents the role of gender within the play is through the concept of women cursing the men and those curses coming true. Women do not hold a lot of power in the time period that Richard III was set in, however, in this play women do have some kind of power and influence.

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The way that women seem to show their power in this play is through their power to make threats and curse others in the play. One example of how power and curses play a role is after Queen Margaret loses her children and curses Queen Elizabeth when she says, “Outlive thy glory, like my wretched self. / Long mayst thou live to wait thy children’s death / And see another, as I see thee now / Decked in thy rights as thou art stalled in mine.

/ Long die thy happy days before thy death / And after many lengthened hours of grief / Die neither mother, wife, nor England’s queen”. In the first act of the play, Queen Margaret curses Queen Elizabeth’s children and husband to die and also lose her role as king, all of which happened to Queen Margaret. She wanted Elizabeth to feel the same pain that she did, and then by the end of the play all of Margaret’s curses came true against Elizabeth. This shows that while women may not have explicit power in society during this time period, they have more of an internal power in which they can implicitly influence others, particularly their husbands, but they also have this internal ability to curse others and have them come true.

Towards the end of the play, women’s ability to curse becomes more obvious once their curses begin to come true. For example, a conversation between King Richard and the Duchess occurs that has the Duchess explaining her power when she says, “O, she that might have intercepted thee, / By strangling thee in her accursed womb / From all the slaughters, wretch that thou hast done”. The Duchess brings up the power that she has to King Richard to show him what she is capable of doing. The Duchess’ curse for him to suffer a bloody death hints at the power of her curses and her curse is responsible for his death.

Another theme that represents the role of gender within the play is through the idea that men do not want to admit that women have any power, but in fact, women do have power over the men, even if it may not be recognized as such. The first mention of women in the play analyzes how men are ruled by women, when Richard says, “Why, this it is when men are rul’d by women: / ‘Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower; / My Lady Gray his wife, Clarence, ‘tis she / That tempers him to this extremity”. Richard suggests that women have no right to rule men, yet they somehow find a way to do so anyways. Richard does not appreciate the idea of women ruling men, especially because they do it so secretly. This quote analyzes the fact that women, especially wives, have power that they shouldn’t have and as men, or husbands, they should expect women to use the power that they have for evil, which again relates back to the idea of women having the power to curse. While Richard seems rather angry at the fact of women holding so much power over men, he always seems somewhat scared for women to have the power to do evil.

Women’s power over men is, again, a concern for Richard and how he knows about this power, but also he believes that using women can help distract from the power that women have. Another example of the indirect fear that Richard has is when he says, “For then I’ll marry Warwick’s youngest daughter. / What though I kill’d her husband and her father? / The readiest way to make the wench amends / Is to become her husband and her father; / The which will I-not all so much for love / As for another secret close intent / By marrying her which I must reach unto” (1.1.154-160). Richard seems to view Anne as an object and not a human being, in the sense that instead of being used by a woman, he wants to use and be with Anne after murdering her family instead of admitting the fact that she could have power. This is important because of the fact that Richard has plans to kill both, Anne’s father-in-law and husband as karma and then Richard would marry Anne. He explicitly says that he will marry Anne not because he loves her or wants to, but because he will be able to get something out of this marriage. This, again, emphasizes the fact that men have more explicit power over women, but that doesn’t negate women’s power.

Richard and Elizabeth have many conversations throughout this play in which Richard tries to take control of Elizabeth and her actions, which is very typical of this time period except Shakespeare again challenges this concept by making Elizabeth’s character more confident and set in her ways so that Richard is not simply using her for whatever he wants. For example, Queen Elizabeth begins with “Shall I forget myself to be myself… / Yet thou didst kill my children” and Richard responds, “ But in your daughter’s womb I bury them / Where, in that nest of spicery, they will breed / Selves of themselves, to your recomforture. Richard is essentially saying that even though he killed Elizabeth’s family, he should still be forgiven because he plans on marrying her daughter. This is a foolish act for Richard because he does not realize that what he is saying to Elizabeth is a failed attempt at manipulating her to get everything that he wants. Richard believes that Elizabeth has no power over this situation and that she is foolish, but little does he know that Elizabeth does not plan on allowing Richard to marry her daughter. This is another example of how men in this time period overlook the power that women have simply by underestimating them. Shakespeare really caters towards this idea because almost every woman, especially Elizabeth, in this play does not tolerate men trying to manipulate and take advantage of the women. This represents the hidden power that women have, that Richard seems incapable of understanding until it causes his downfall at the end of the play.

Throughout the play, Richard III, it is rather apparent that the role of gender is so important in analyzing whether men or women have the most power in this play. While men are still seen as the head of the household and the primary political and social person, women have more power than originally believed. Men seem to be almost frightened by the hidden power behind women and the influence that they have on their families and beliefs. Throughout the years, women have become even more outspoken in society, but this play is a beginning stepping stone in Shakespeare acknowledging the power and influence of women in society.