Act 3, Scene 5

London. The Tower Walls.

[Enter GLOSTER and BUCKINGHAM in rusty armour, marvellous ill-favoured.]
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1949 Come, cousin, canst thou quake and change thy colour,
1950 Murder thy breath in middle of a word,
1951 And then again begin, and stop again,
1952 As if thou were distraught and mad with terror?
Duke of Buckingham
1953 Tut, I can counterfeit the deep tragedian;
1954 Speak and look back, and pry on every side,
1955 Tremble and start at wagging of a straw,
1956 Intending deep suspicion: ghastly looks
1957 Are at my service, like enforced smiles;
1958 And both are ready in their offices,
1959 At any time to grace my stratagems.
1960 But what, is Catesby gone?
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1961 He is; and, see, he brings the mayor along.
[Enter the LORD MAYOR and CATESBY.]
Duke of Buckingham
1962 Lord mayor,—
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1963 Look to the drawbridge there!
Duke of Buckingham
1964 Hark! a drum.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1965 Catesby, o'erlook the walls.
Duke of Buckingham
1966 Lord Mayor, the reason we have sent,—
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1967 Look back, defend thee,—here are enemies.
Duke of Buckingham
1968 God and our innocency defend and guard us!
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1969 Be patient; they are friends,—Ratcliff and Lovel.
[Enter LOVEL and RATCLIFF, with HASTINGS' head.]
Lord Lovel
1970 Here is the head of that ignoble traitor,
1971 The dangerous and unsuspected Hastings.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1972 So dear I lov'd the man that I must weep.
1973 I took him for the plainest harmless creature
1974 That breath'd upon the earth a Christian;
1975 Made him my book, wherein my soul recorded
1976 The history of all her secret thoughts:
1977 So smooth he daub'd his vice with show of virtue
1978 That, his apparent open guilt omitted,—
1979 I mean, his conversation with Shore's wife,—
1980 He liv'd from all attainder of suspects.
Duke of Buckingham
1981 Well, well, he was the covert'st shelter'd traitor
1982 That ever liv'd.—
1983 Would you imagine, or almost believe,—
1984 Were't not that by great preservation
1985 We live to tell it you,—that the subtle traitor
1986 This day had plotted, in the council-house,
1987 To murder me and my good Lord of Gloster!
Lord Mayor of London
1988 Had he done so?
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
1989 What! think you we are Turks or Infidels?
1990 Or that we would, against the form of law,
1991 Proceed thus rashly in the villain's death,
1992 But that the extreme peril of the case,
1993 The peace of England and our persons' safety,
1994 Enforc'd us to this execution?
Lord Mayor of London
1995 Now, fair befall you! he deserv'd his death;
1996 And your good graces both have well proceeded,
1997 To warn false traitors from the like attempts.
1998 I never look'd for better at his hands
1999 After he once fell in with Mistress Shore.
Duke of Buckingham
2000 Yet had we not determin'd he should die
2001 Until your lordship came to see his end;
2002 Which now the loving haste of these our friends,
2003 Something against our meanings, have prevented:
2004 Because, my lord, we would have had you heard
2005 The traitor speak, and timorously confess
2006 The manner and the purpose of his treasons;
2007 That you might well have signified the same
2008 Unto the citizens, who haply may
2009 Misconster us in him, and wail his death.
Lord Mayor of London
2010 But, my good lord, your grace's word shall serve
2011 As well as I had seen and heard him speak:
2012 And do not doubt, right noble princes both,
2013 But I'll acquaint our duteous citizens
2014 With all your just proceedings in this case.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
2015 And to that end we wish'd your lordship here,
2016 To avoid the the the censures of the carping world.
Duke of Buckingham
2017 But since you come too late of our intent,
2018 Yet witness what you hear we did intend:
2019 And so, my good lord mayor, we bid farewell.
[Exit LORD MAYOR.]
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
2020 Go, after, after, cousin Buckingham.
2021 The Mayor towards Guildhall hies him in all post:—
2022 There, at your meet'st advantage of the time,
2023 Infer the bastardy of Edward's children:
2024 Tell them how Edward put to death a citizen,
2025 Only for saying he would make his son
2026 Heir to the crown;—meaning, indeed, his house,
2027 Which, by the sign thereof, was termed so.
2028 Moreover, urge his hateful luxury,
2029 And bestial appetite in change of lust;
2030 Which stretch'd unto their servants, daughters, wives,
2031 Even where his raging eye or savage heart,
2032 Without control, listed to make a prey.
2033 Nay, for a need, thus far come near my person:—
2034 Tell them, when that my mother went with child
2035 Of that insatiate Edward, noble York,
2036 My princely father, then had wars in France
2037 And, by true computation of the time,
2038 Found that the issue was not his begot;
2039 Which well appeared in his lineaments,
2040 Being nothing like the noble duke my father.
2041 Yet touch this sparingly, as 'twere far off;
2042 Because, my lord, you know my mother lives.
Duke of Buckingham
2043 Doubt not, my lord, I'll play the orator
2044 As if the golden fee for which I plead
2045 Were for myself: and so, my lord, adieu.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
2046 If you thrive well, bring them to Baynard's Castle;
2047 Where you shall find me well accompanied
2048 With reverend fathers and well learned bishops.
Duke of Buckingham
2049 I go; and towards three or four o'clock
2050 Look for the news that the Guildhall affords.
[Exit.]
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
2051 Go, Lovel, with all speed to Doctor Shaw.—
2052 Go thou
[to CATESBY]
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
2053 to Friar Penker;—bid them both
2054 Meet me within this hour at Baynard's Castle.
[Exeunt LOVEL and CATESBY.]
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
2055 Now will I in, to take some privy order
2056 To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight;
2057 And to give order that no manner person
2058 Have any time recourse unto the princes.
[Exit.]

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Notes

TLN 1953cultural context
“I can counterfeit the deep tragedian”
Buckingham boasts that he can play the role of a tragic actor — trembling, starting at nothing, scanning every corner for assassins. 'The deep tragedian' is an actor specializing in weighty, solemn tragedy, known for projecting inner torment. Buckingham is saying he can deliver a star performance on demand.
historical The Stage Machiavel
TLN 1975rhetorical device
“Made him my book, wherein my soul recorded / The history of all her secret thoughts”
Richard pretends to grieve Hastings, casting their relationship as so intimate that Hastings was the 'book' in which Richard's own soul kept its private diary. The image — a human being as a written record of another's innermost thoughts — is a metaphor for perfect trust. Everything in the speech is fabricated: Richard ordered Hastings's execution just minutes earlier in Act 3 Scene 4.
TLN 1979historical topical
“his conversation with Shore's wife”
'Shore's wife' is Jane Shore, mistress of King Edward IV and afterward of Lord Hastings. 'Conversation' here means not talk but sexual intercourse — an archaic sense still current in the 1590s. Richard has already exploited her liaison with Hastings in Act 3 Scene 4 as part of his pretext for ordering the execution, accusing her of witchcraft and naming Hastings as her confederate.
historical More's History of King Richard III
TLN 1989cultural context
“think you we are Turks or Infidels? Or that we would, against the form of law, Proceed thus rashly”
Richard equates lawless, summary execution with the Turks and 'Infidels' — the standard Elizabethan shorthand for alien despotism and irreligion. By invoking the contrast, he claims that only a godless tyrant would act without due legal process. The irony is crushing: he has just had Hastings beheaded in exactly that way, without trial, an hour earlier.
TLN 2009archaic vocab
“Misconster us in him”
'Misconster' means to misconstrue — to misinterpret or to put the wrong construction on something. Buckingham is worried that, because the Mayor could not hear Hastings confess, the citizens will 'misconstrue us because of him' — will wrongly blame Richard and Buckingham for a rushed, unjust killing.
TLN 2023historical topical
“Infer the bastardy of Edward's children”
Richard directs Buckingham to argue publicly that King Edward IV's sons — the two princes currently in the Tower — are illegitimate and therefore have no right to the throne. 'Infer' here means 'allege, bring forward as a charge' (not the modern logical sense). This is the legal pretext Richard needs: if the princes are bastards, the crown falls to him as the next legitimate Yorkist male.
historical The Princes in the Tower
TLN 2024historical topical
“Edward put to death a citizen, Only for saying he would make his son Heir to the crown”
Richard instructs Buckingham to tell the Guildhall crowd that Edward IV executed a man merely for saying his son would be 'heir to the Crown' — but the man had actually said his son would inherit his house, the sign above which read 'The Crown' (a tavern or inn). The executer misunderstood 'crown' as the royal crown. Richard cynically deploys the story as evidence of Edward's tyrannical cruelty.
TLN 2034historical topical
“when that my mother went with child / Of that insatiate Edward, noble York, / My princely father, then had wars in France / And, by true computation of the time, / Found that the issue was not his begot”
Richard instructs Buckingham to tell the crowd that King Edward IV was not the legitimate son of Richard's father, the Duke of York — in other words, to brand his own dead brother as a bastard. He rationalizes it on the grounds that York was fighting in France when Edward was conceived. Since his mother the Duchess of York is still alive, he warns Buckingham to handle the slander delicately.
historical More's History of King Richard III
TLN 2046historical topical
“bring them to Baynard's Castle; Where you shall find me well accompanied / With reverend fathers and well learned bishops”
Baynard's Castle was a real Thames-side fortress in London that served as Richard's headquarters during his seizure of power. Richard plans to be found there surrounded by bishops and holy men — the picture of a pious, reluctant prince — when Buckingham arrives with the city's 'petition' that he accept the crown. The scene is theatrically choreographed: spiritual trappings will make the usurpation look like humble submission to God's will.
historical More's History of King Richard III
TLN 2051historical topical
“Go, Lovel, with all speed to Doctor Shaw.— Go thou to Friar Penker”
Doctor Ralph Shaw and Friar Augustine Penker were real London preachers whom Richard enlisted to give his usurpation a religious veneer. Shaw preached at Paul's Cross on 22 June 1483, arguing that Edward IV's children were bastards and that Richard was the rightful king; Penker preached at the Guildhall in support. By deploying men of God as propagandists, Richard gave his coup the appearance of divine endorsement.
historical More's History of King Richard III
TLN 2056historical topical
“draw the brats of Clarence out of sight; And to give order that no manner person / Have any time recourse unto the princes”
In the closing lines Richard arranges two simultaneous confinements: Clarence's orphaned children are to be hidden away (they are rival claimants who could rally opposition), and all access to the two princes in the Tower is to be cut off. Isolating the princes from any outside contact is the last step before their murder. 'No manner person' means 'no person of any kind whatsoever.'
historical The Princes in the Tower