Shakespeare's Kings (118 page)

The remaining scenes of the act show, if anything, still more fidelity to More and Hall. Shakespeare introduces the gullible mayor to represent the 'many substancial men out of the cytie' to whom Richard and Buckingham, 'harnessed in olde evill favoured briganders', explain the sad necessity which has obliged them to kill Hastings; he makes Richard dispatch Buckingham to Guildhall to spread the word of his brothers' illegitimacy; another henchman, Lord Lovell, is sent to fetch the mayor's brother Dr Shaa — he who is shortly to preach the sycophantic sermon - while his trusted Sir Richard Ratcliffe goes off to find Friar Penker,
¹
Provincial of the Augustinian Friars - 'bothe great preachers, bothe of more learnyng then vertue, of more fame then learnyng, & yet of more learnyng then trueth'. In scene v, which contains only fourteen lines, we even have a scrivener illustrating More's point that the proclamation of Hastings's death was so long and elaborate that it could only have been prepared many hours in advance. This brings us to the final scene of the act, which falls into two parts. In the first, which can be dated to
24
June, Buckingham tells Richard of his fruitless efforts to persuade the citizens of London to acclaim him at Guildhall; instead of which

they spake not a
word,

But like dumb statues or breathing stones

Star'd each on other,
and
look
'd
deadly pale.

The second part covers the visit - which actually took place on the following day — of Buckingham, the mayor and a group of citizens to the Protector at Baynard's
Castle
to beg him to take the crown as of right. Twice he refuses; finally, with every show of reluctance, he accedes to their wishes:

But if black scandal, or foul-fac'd reproach,

Attend
the
sequel of your imposition,

Your
mere enforcement shall acquittance me

From
all
the impure blots
and
stains thereof:

For
God
doth know,
and you may partly see,

How far
I
am from the desire of this.

1.
Holinshed's spelling; Hall calls him Pynkie
.

In
the
play,
the
mayor
and
citizens
are
genuinely
deceived
by
Richard's attitude:
by
the
prayer
book
in
his
hand,
and
by
the
two
reverend churchmen
flanking
him.
Historically
speaking,
however,
we
can
be fairly
sure
that
the
leaders
of
the
delegation
were
by
now
fully
aware that
they
were
participating
in
a
cold-blooded
charade.

With
the
beginning
of
Act
IV
we
are
back
once
more
in
the
world of
Shakespeare's
imagination.
Stanley's
first
speech,
bidding
Queen Anne
to
go
straight
to
Westminster
for
her
coronation,
makes
it
clear that
the
first
scene
is
set
on
Sunday
6
July;
the
widowed
Queen
Elizabeth, who
is
seen
on
the
way
to
the
city
to
visit
her
sons,
was
then
still
in sanctuary.
It
is
true,
on
the
other
hand,
that
at
this
time
-
and
probably for
at
least
a
fortnight
before
-
no
access
was
allowed
to
the
two
little Princes
in
the
Tower.
As
for
the
Marquess
of
Dorset,
Elizabeth's
son by
her
first
marriage,
he
too
had
taken
sanctuary,
but
escaped
at
about this
time;
we
read
that
although
Richard
sought
him
with
dogs,
'after the
manner
of
huntsm
en',
he
eventually
managed
to
escape
to
France. Even
if
his
mother,
emboldened
by
her
anxiety
for
her
sons'
safety,
had ventured
to
the
Tower,
he
would
certainly
not
have
been
able
to accompany
her.

Scene
ii
once
again
shows
us
Richard
at
his
most
villainous.
First
he discusses
with
Buckingham
how
best
to
rid
himself
of
the
Princes;
next he
arranges
with
Stanley
to
spread
the
word
of his
wife's
sickness,
so that
he
may
more
easily
dispose
of
her
also
and
marry
his
niece;
then he
whispers
his
deadly
instructions
to
Sir
James
Tyrell;
and
finally
he refuses
to
listen
when
Buckingham
claims
the
promised
earldom
of Hereford.
In
essence
this
and
the
succeeding
scene
hi
are
simply
a dramatization
of
More's
account;
the
only
important
difference
is
that Shakespeare
brings
forward
the
death
of
Queen
Anne
by
nearly
two years,
making
it
roughly
contemporary
with
the
murder
of
the
Princes. It
is
immediately
after
Tyrell
confirms
their
deaths
that
he
soliloquizes:

The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham's bosom,

And Anne my wife hath bid this world good night.

By
this
time,
one
feels,
Stanley
could
scarcely
have
begun
to
spread
the rumour
that
she
was
sick.
In
fact,
as
we
know,
the
poor
Queen
survived till
March
1485
-
dying
possibly
of
slow
poison,
but
more
probably
of natural
causes.

★

In
the
first
part
of
scene
iv
the
reappearance
of
the
ghastly
Queen Margaret
is
of
course
unhistorical;
but
by
now
she
is
hardly
Queen Margaret
at
all.
Her
character,
since
the
battle
of
Tewkesbury,
has
been transformed.
What
we
see
before
us
is
a
figure
scarcely
human,
belonging more
to
Greek
tragedy
than
to
English,
a
personification
of
malignant vengeance
who
is
capable
of
expressing
satisfaction
even
over
the
death of
the
Princes.
The
second
part
of
the
scene
on
the
other
hand,
during which
Richard
demonstrates
once
again
his
remarkable
powers
of persuasion
in
inducing
Queen
Elizabeth
to
press
his
suit
with
her daughter,
makes
historic
sense
so
long
as
we
accept
-
and,
as
Shakespeare's
audience,
accept
we
must
—
that
his
first
wife
Anne
is
already dead.
In
the
third
part
the
King
is
informed
first
of
the
imminent
arrival of
Henry
Tudor
in
alliance
with
Buckingham,
and
then
of
the
failure of
their
insurrection
and
Henry's
return
to
Brittany.
Since
Buckingham is
obviously
still
alive
and
we
know
that
he
was
executed
on
2
November, this
enables
us
to
date
the
end
of
the
scene
confide
ntly
to
late
October 1483.