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King Richard III

Chapter 2: Dramatis Personæ
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About This Book

A physically deformed, ambitious member of the ruling family engineers a campaign of deception and murder to seize the throne, manipulating allies and exploiting prophecies and court factions; as he eliminates rivals and imprisons heirs, conscience and public unrest grow, and supernatural visitations haunt him. Courtly intrigue, betrayals, and shifting loyalties accelerate toward open conflict, culminating in a decisive battle that ends his rule. The drama examines the corrosive effects of ruthless ambition, the performance of power through rhetoric and stagecraft, and the moral consequences for perpetrators and victims alike.

Dramatis Personæ

RICHARD, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, afterwards KING RICHARD III.
LADY ANNE, widow to Edward, Prince of Wales, son to King Henry VI.; afterwards married to the Duke of Gloucester

KING EDWARD THE FOURTH, brother to Richard
QUEEN ELIZABETH, Queen to King Edward IV.
Sons to the king:
EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, afterwards KING EDWARD V.
RICHARD, DUKE OF YORK

GEORGE, DUKE OF CLARENCE, brother to Edward and Richard
BOY, son to Clarence
GIRL, daughter to Clarence

DUCHESS OF YORK, mother to King Edward IV., Clarence, and Gloucester
QUEEN MARGARET, widow to King Henry VI.
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
LORD HASTINGS, the Lord Chamberlain
LORD STANLEY, the Earl of Derby
EARL RIVERS, brother to Queen Elizabeth
LORD GREY, son of Queen Elizabeth by her former marriage
MARQUESS OF DORSET, son of Queen Elizabeth by her former marriage
SIR THOMAS VAUGHAN

SIR WILLIAM CATESBY
SIR RICHARD RATCLIFFE
LORD LOVELL
DUKE OF NORFOLK
EARL OF SURREY

HENRY, EARL OF RICHMOND, afterwards KING HENRY VII.
EARL OF OXFORD
SIR JAMES BLUNT
SIR WALTER HERBERT
SIR WILLIAM BRANDON
CHRISTOPHER URSWICK, a priest
THOMAS ROTHERHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK
CARDINAL BOURCHIER, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
John Morton, BISHOP OF ELY
SIR ROBERT BRAKENBURY, Lieutenant of the Tower
SIR JAMES TYRREL
Another Priest
LORD MAYOR OF LONDON
SHERIFF OF WILTSHIRE

Lords, and other Attendants; two Gentlemen, a Pursuivant, Scrivener, Citizens, Murderers, Messengers, Ghosts, Soldiers, &c.

SCENE: England