Anne (Richard III)

Play

Richard III

Summary

Lady Anne Neville, widow of Prince Edward (killed at Tewkesbury) and daughter-in-law to Henry VI, is encountered by Richard as she accompanies Henry VI's coffin. In the most audacious seduction scene in Shakespeare, Richard woos her over the corpse of the king he murdered — her rage slowly seduced into grudging acquiescence. She becomes Richard's queen, lives in dread of him, and dies — almost certainly murdered — before Bosworth Field.

Notable Quotations

"What black magician conjures up this fiend, / To stop devoted charitable deeds?" *(1.2)*

"I would I knew thy heart." *(1.2)*

"Within so small a time, my woman's heart / Grossly grew captive to his honey words / And proved the subject of mine own soul's curse." *(4.1)*

Cross-references

• Richard III — the play
• Richard III — the man who woos and destroys her
• Henry VI, Part 3 — her first husband's world
• Histories