Richard of Gloucester (3 Henry VI)

Play

Henry VI, Part 3

Summary

Richard of Gloucester, youngest son of the Duke of York and the future Richard III, emerges in this play as the ruthless and brilliant political schemer who will define the next generation. Deformed from birth and excluded from love's softness, he articulates a chilling philosophy of pure self-interest in his "I am myself alone" soliloquy, and commits his first murders — of young Prince Edward and then Henry VI in the Tower.

Notable Quotations

"I can add colours to the chameleon; / Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, / And set the murderous Machiavel to school. / Can I do this, and cannot get a crown? / Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down." *(3.2)*

"I have no brother, I am like no brother; / And this word 'love,' which greybeards call divine, / Be resident in men like one another / And not in me: I am myself alone." *(5.6)*

"Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so, / Let hell make crook'd my mind to answer it." *(5.6)*

Cross-references

• Henry VI, Part 3 — the play
• Richard III — the play he will dominate
• Richard III — this character's continuation
• York (3 Henry VI) — his father
• King Edward IV — his brother
• King Henry VI — his murder victim
• Histories