Richmond (Richard III)

Play

Richard III

Summary

Henry, Earl of Richmond and future Henry VII, is the providential counter-figure to Richard — pious, measured, and blessed by the ghosts of Richard's victims in the night before Bosworth. He defeats and kills Richard in single combat, and his closing speech establishing peace and the Tudor dynasty provides the play's official closure, though he is a deliberately underdeveloped figure compared to the towering villain he supplants.

Notable Quotations

"More than I have said, loving countrymen, / The leisure and enforcement of the time / Forbids to dwell upon." *(5.3)*

"God and your arms be prais'd, victorious friends! / The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead." *(5.5)*

"We will unite the white rose and the red: / Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction, / That long have frown'd upon their enmity!" *(5.5)*

Cross-references