Summary: Act V, scene iii
In his camp, King Richard orders his men to pitch their
tents for the night. He says that they will engage in their great
battle in the -morning. Richard talks to his noblemen, trying to
stir up some enthusiasm, but they are all subdued. Richard, however,
says he has learned that Richmond has only one-third as many fighting
men as he himself does, and he is confident that he can easily win.
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Act V, scene iii →
Summary: Act V, scene iv
Meanwhile, in Richmond’s camp, Richmond tells a messenger
to deliver a secret letter to his stepfather, Lord Stanley, who
is in an outlying camp. Stanley is forced to fight upon Richard’s
side, but Richmond hopes to get some help from him nonetheless.
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Act V, scene iv →
Summary: Act V, scene v
It is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
What do I fear? Myself?
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Back in King Richard’s tent, Richard issues commands to
his lieutenants. Because Richard knows of Stanley’s relationship
with Richmond, he is suspicious of Stanley, and is holding Stanley’s
young son, George, hostage. He has an order sent to Lord Stanley
telling him to bring his troops to the main camp before dawn, or
else he will kill George. Declaring that he will eat no supper that
night, Richard then prepares to go to sleep for the night.
Stanley comes secretly to visit Richmond in his tent.
He explains the situation, but promises to help Richmond however
he can. Richmond thanks him and then prepares for sleep.
As both leaders sleep, they begin to dream. A parade
of ghosts—the spirits of everyone whom Richard has murdered—comes
across the stage. First, each ghost stops to speak to Richard. Each
condemns him bitterly for his or her death, tells him that he will
be killed in battle the next morning, and orders him to despair
and die. The ghosts then move away and speak to the sleeping Richmond, telling
him that they are on Richmond’s side and that Richmond will rule
England and be the father of a race of kings. In a similar manner, eleven
ghosts move across the stage: Prince Edward, the dead son of Henry
VI; King Henry VI himself; Richard’s brother Clarence; Rivers, Gray,
and Vaughan; the two young princes, whom Richard had murdered in
the tower; Hastings; Lady Anne, Richard’s former wife; and, finally,
Buckingham.
Terrified, Richard wakes out of his sleep, sweating and
gasping. In an impassioned soliloquy, he searches his soul to try
to find the cause of such a terrible dream. Realizing that he is
a murderer, Richard tries to figure out what he fears. He asks himself
whether he is afraid of himself or whether he loves himself. He
realizes that he doesn’t have any reason to love himself and asks
whether he doesn’t hate himself, instead. For the first time, Richard
is truly terrified.
