1. ENGLISH RESERCH ASSIGNMENT
Richard The
Third
A Play By William
Shakespeare
Luke Dixon 10RO

2. Phase One

3. Background
Information
• Richard is the main character in the
Shakespearean play; “The Tragedy Of Richard the
Third”- A historic tragedy play.
• The play is set in 1484 England.
• The play starts with Richard displaying his envy of
his elder brother [who is the ruling King of
England] and the beginning of his cunning plan to
become king.
• Early on in the play Richard is described as a “ugly
un-finished hunchback.”

4. Plot Synopsis
• The play of “The Tragedy Of Richard The Third”
follows Richard [the brother of the ruling king]
through his accent to power and ultimately the king
of England. He kills and imprisons many people in
the fight to convince the people of England that he is
the true heir to the throne and a humble content
man with no want for power. Richard fights
rebellions finally at the battle of Bosworth field his
army abandons him and he gets killed.

5. Conflict
The types of conflict in the play “Richard The Third” are:
• Person vs. Person- Richard conflicts with people
throughout the play including convincing Anne [who
originally hates him] to marry him. He also conflicts
with the people who stand in the way to the throne.
Such as his other brother Clarence.
• Person vs. Society – Richard conflicts with the Royal
society as well as on a broader scale the society of
England. This is because he has to remove and convince
people so he can become the heir to the throne and
ultimately the king of England.

6. Structure
Outline
• Exposition-The play begins with Richard
describing his brothers [Henry IV] accent to the
throne. This speech reveals Richards obvious
jealousy of his brother. Also this uncovers his
ambition to become the next in line to the
throne.
• Exiting Force- Richard is overcome by jealousy
and begins to plot against his brother Clarence
[who stands in the way of the throne] and gets
him conducted to the tower of England and
eventually murdered.

7. Structure
Outline
• Conflict-Richard becomes fixated on gaining
power and becoming closer to the throne. The
king[Henry IV] dies and leaves Richard as Lord
Protector and his son as his predecessor [Henry
V]
• Turning Point-Richard has his nephew killed. He
then puts on a false act to convince England that
he is a humble man with no want for power.
Richard is then announced king of England.

8. Structure
Outline
• Catastrophe-Richard loses what popularity he had
throughout England and faces rebellions led by Lord
Buckingham. The two armies meet at Bosworth field
for a final battle. Before the battle Richard is visited by
the ghost of his victims who tell him to “despair and
die”.
• Resolution-At the battle of Bosworth field Lord Stanley
[Richards step-father] and his followers desert Richard
and he is left at a severe dis-advantage. Richard is the
knocked off his horse and cries “A horse a horse my
kingdom for a horse” Richmond then kills Richard in
the final duel.

9. Structure
Outline
• Dénouement-Richmond succeeds Richard to
the throne.
• Dramatic relief-Henry VII marries princess
Elizabeth from the house of York and England
is at peace.

10. Phase Two

11. At The
Beginning
• Richards relations with other characters is purely
for his gains. He befriends people with more
power than him to do his dirty work. For example
when he persuaded the king to get rid of his
other brother Clarence who stood in the way of
the throne.
• The main motivation that drives Richard is his
want for power and the throne of England
• Richard behaves towards others in a very
deceitful way. He manipulates them and does this
very successfully.

12. How He
Changes
• Richard influences the people around him in a
bad way. He convinces and manipulates people
with power to kill and imprison innocent people
who stand in the way of his accent to the throne.
• Richard then achieves the throne of England with
killing and imprisonment to rid the throne of
heirs.,
• Richard definitely drives the conflict in the play as
he changes the normal line to the throne.

13. In the End
• In the end of the play Richard loses what little
popularity and allies he had.
• This ultimately leads to his demise when he
faces rebellions. He then gets deserted by
some of his strong allies and loses his life

14. Bibliography
• www.wikipedia.org/wiki/TragedyofRichardiii_[play]
• www.shakespeareansinopsis.com
• www.shmoop.com/richardiii/plot-analisis.html
• www.shakespearonline/richardiii[play].org
• www.sparknotes.com/shakespear/richardiii