Buckingham (Richard III)

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Richard III

Summary

Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, is Richard's most important accomplice, who helps orchestrate the removal of the young princes and the manipulation of popular opinion to place Richard on the throne. He breaks with Richard when refused the promised earldom of Hereford and when asked to consent to the murder of the princes in the Tower; he raises a rebellion that fails, and is executed on All Souls' Day — a fate he recognises as the working out of an old curse against him.

Notable Quotations

"Had I been remember'd, / I could have given my uncle's grace a flout / To touch his growth nearer than he touch'd mine." *(3.1)*

"This is the day that, in King Edward's time, / I wish'd might fall on me when I was found / False to his children or his wife's allies." *(5.1)*

"Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame." *(5.1)*

Cross-references