How does Shakespeare make Act I scene i in Richard III significant and dramatic? | In the Shakespearian tragedy Richard III, Act I scene i is made a very significant and dramatic part of the play as it is the grand opening of the entire production, and is therefore used to introduce many of the fundamental ideas and begin to familiarise the audience with some of the main characters and their individual personalities. By the time of Act I scene i, the Battle of Tewkesbury between York and Lancaster has recently concluded, with the result of York as victors and having possession of the throne. Richard Duke of Gloucester is shown to have played a vital role in the victory at Tewkesbury- having been responsible for the death of Henry VI and Prince Edward (as revealed in Act I scene ii)-yet is denied the right of sovereignty by his elder brother, Edward. Richard reveals to the audience his feelings about this, and the apparent end of the war, through a soliloquy at the start of Act I scene i. After this, Richard proceeds to have an interaction with George, Duke of Clarence, who has been ordered to be taken to the tower for imprisonment by his brother, King Edward. There are three main ways that Shakespeare makes this scene significant and dramatic. Firstly, he reveals to us in the soliloquy that Richard has chosen to be a villain for the duration of the play, and gives us the reasons why. Shakespeare also shows to the audience Richard’s cunning and deceptive nature, by using Richard’s interaction with Clarence in Act I scene i. Finally, Shakespeare exposes Richard’s plans that he will put in place for the rest of the play, in order to achieve his ultimate goal.

The first way Shakespeare makes Act I scene i significant and dramatic is by revealing to the audience that Richard has made a decision to be a troublemaking hellion for the rest of the play, and suggest to us why he has done so. Examples of this are where Richard soliloquises about how ‘Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,/Our dreadful marches to delightful measures’ and ‘now, instead of mounting barbed steeds/ To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,/ He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber/ To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.’ These quotations from Richard all suggest that he is mocking peace, and displays to the audience his deep hatred for the apparent frivolity of having a good time and messing around with women. He does this throughout lines 1 to 13, where he continuously creates juxtaposition between the gravity and importance of war and the futility of peacetime. For example, we see this in lines 6-7 where he uses the adjectives ‘stern’ and ‘dreadful’ to describe war whilst using ‘merry’ and ‘delightful’ for peace directly afterwards - making it appear worthless and unmanly. Furthermore, in the lines 11-13 Richard portrays war with intense words: ‘to fright the souls of fearful adversaries’, while next describing someone during peacetime as one who ‘capers nimbly to the lascivious pleasing of a lute’, again making us detract from the idea of peacetime, by illustrating it as effeminate and weak. We can also see this in the 1955 film of Richard III, where the actor announces the lines 1-13 with a general air of derision and contempt, proving that Richard sees peace as a time to be spat upon. Therefore, Richard uses his idea of the fact that peace is a shallow time with little meaning as a reason to be a troublemaker, as we can see from the evidence that Richard would much prefer the idea of conflict than not. Another example of why Richard is shown to have made the decision to become a villain, are from the lines where he exclaims ‘I that am not shaped for sportive tricks...am rudely stamped and want love’s majesty... Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time... have no delight to pass away the time... since I cannot prove a lover... I am determined to prove a villain’. These quotations are conclusive as to Richard’s motives to being a villain. All of lines 14-30 are him complaining about his unattractive features and how it means that he is unable to entertain multiple partners, until line 27 where he resolves that since he ‘cannot prove a lover’, he is ‘determined to prove a villain’. He uses numerous personal adjectives- ‘Deformed’, Unfinished’, ‘Lamely’, ‘Unfashionable’- which all make him appear like the runt of the family, a mistake from God. And so, he decides to do the one thing he is successful at, which is causing strife. Overall, we as the audience are shocked and disgusted at Richard’s adamant resolution to be evil, yet are captivated with him as a character and intrigued with what he is going to do next. Richard is able to be a very successful villain throughout the play, and this is largely due to his clever mind and deceiving manner.

Another way that Shakespeare makes Act I Scene i dramatic and significant is how he shows the audience Richard’s cunning and deceptive nature. For example, we see this with interactions with Clarence such as ‘Upon what cause?’ and ‘But what’s the matter, Clarence? May I know?’ This repetition of questions and appearance of lack of knowledge throughout the conversation suggests to Clarence that Richard has no idea what is going on, and is a device used by Richard to appear honest and innocent. However, we as the audience know that Richard does know about everything, since he has set it up- therefore creating a sense of dramatic irony. We can see that Clarence falls for this, as he then goes on to explain what he believes to have happened. This therefore convinces the audience of Richard’s success of being so deceptive. Furthermore, we see examples of his cunningness through when he says ‘Plots have I laid...To set my brother Clarence and the king/In deadly hate, the one against the other’, ‘I’ll in to urge his hatred more to Clarence ‘With lies well steeled with weighty arguments,/And, if I fail not in my deep intent,/Clarence hath not another day to live;’ and ‘Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower./My Lady Grey his wife, Clarence, ’tis she’. Here we see Richard’s ability to create believable lies, and to turn people against each other so that they do the dirty work for him. We also know that all the lies that he plants and plans to turn people against each other do work, as Clarence appears to thoroughly believe Richard’s lies about Lady Grey, and Richard manages to persuade Kind Edward of the ‘intense threat’ of Clarence, as he dies very soon in Act I scene iv. We are also shown Richard’s ability to be so duplicitous with many different people. ‘Dive, thoughts, down to my soul. Here Clarence comes./ Brother, good day. What means this armèd guard/That waits upon your Grace?’ ‘that news is bad indeed... 'Tis very grievous to be thought upon.’ Here we see that Richard can immediately change from his true vicious self with the audience, to an apparently caring and pleasant man with fellow characters on stage. When he is talking to the audience, he uses much harder, rougher sounding sounds, such as the alliteration of ‘dive’ and ‘down’, indicating he is talking in a much more bitter tone. However, when Clarence enters his tone immediately appears to switch to a much softer one, using much more pleasant words and phrases such as ‘Brother’ and ‘good day’. Throughout his conversation with Clarence, he constantly appears worried for Clarence and shows a care for him, and looks as if he is desperate to get his brother out of incarceration, with phrases such as ‘your imprisonment shall not be long./I will deliver you or else lie for you’. However we as an audience know that Richard does not mean that he is going to free Clarence alive, but instead that he wishes to end is imprisonment through death, and ‘deliver’ Clarence to heaven- again creating a sense of dramatic irony. A final way we see Richard’s deceptive and cunning nature is through is skill of twisting people’s words to make them appear as the bad guys, and to shift any suspicion off him on to others. An example of this is where he replies to Brakenbury with ‘Naught to do with Mistress Shore? I tell thee, fellow/He that doth naught with her, excepting one,/Were best he do it secretly, alone.’ Here we see Richard playing off Brakenbury’s innocent, frightened remark of ‘With this, my lord, myself have naught to do.’ as a sexual hint towards Mistress Shore, and so shifting any blame off him. This is achieved as the phrase ‘naught to do’ was a popular way of saying ‘to have sex with’ in those times. Overall, Richard’s cunning and deceptive nature horrifies us initially, yet makes him quite an attractive villain to us as we wonder what he is to get away with next. An example of Richard’s deceptive nature is his duplicity with fellow characters on stage compared to with the audience. It is mainly in his interactions with the audience he reveals to us his true motives, and what he wants to achieve in the rest of the play.

Finally, Shakespeare makes Act I scene i significant and dramatic by exposing to the audience Richard’s plans which he will put in place for the rest of the play. In the soliloquy we hear Richard scheme ‘Plots have I laid… To set my brother Clarence and the king/In deadly hate, the one against the other’ From this quotation we are told that Richard plans to encourage the King and Clarence to hate each other. We can connote that since the King is one of higher power, and will be the one fearing for his life- ‘a prophecy which says that “G”
Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be’- that Richard intends for Clarence’s death. This assumption is verified soon later in Richard’s second soliloquy where he exclaims ‘if I fail not in my deep intent, Clarence hath not another day to live’. Furthermore, we also see Richard willing for another death-’ He cannot live, I hope,’ (referring to Edward) and ‘God take King Edward to His mercy’. This shows us that Richard hopes for King Edward to die as well. The fact that Richard hopes to speed the death of his two elder brothers implies that his true intention to achieve in the play is to eventually become king. Furthermore, Richard plans ahead, as he reveals ‘For then I’ll marry Warwick’s youngest daughter.’ This quotation shows us that Richard has decided to become king, as we can interpret that Richard wants to do this in order to further make his kingship legitimate, by marrying in to the other opposing family for the throne. Overall, Richard’s cunning plans make us an audience excited and intrigued, and we wonder whether Richard could pull off such a complicated plan.