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Chelsea Chafin
LIT 519
Dr. James Fleming
28 March 2016
Death of a Clever Man
The death speech:
The crimson gore flowing free from my veins
Proves to many that despite my odd face,
Despite the bode that creates such distaste;
It was human flesh which controlled this reign.
Though brother rued by those who’ve come to know
His death unfounded based on clever script,
Though queen lay with erstwhile family in crypt,
All to break impish curse from ceaseless bow.
Pity me not, fools! This death ends me not—
God partook none in life, still may I rise;
If not, the crown of fire be my prize.
I accept it all, for the life I sought.
Why it works:
I chose to portray Richard III exactly as Shakespeare chose to: an evil man created. My
speech does not make him more likeable or more dislikeable; it simply shows him in his best
light. He knew everything that he had done was wrong in the eyes of man, but he also knew that

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many, Anne included, pitied him to the point of going past their better judgment. He was the
villain, but he was still human and therefore redeemable. In his snide irony, I chose to make the
mention of heaven more so of his own choice and to point out how God failed him, whereas in
hell he would reign just as he did on earth.
I have Richard point out that people think he is not human because many believe he was
meant to represent evil or the devil based on his appearance. When he stops her father-in-law’s
funeral, Anne says to the bearers who listen to Richard to put down the casket:
What do you tremble? Are you all afraid?
Alas, I blame you not, for you are mortal,
And mortal eyes cannot endure the devil.—
Avaunt, thou dreadful minister of hell!
Thou hadst but power over his mortal body;
His soul thou canst not have. Therefore, begone. (Shakespeare 1.2 43-48)
She not only accuses him of being the devil, but uses words not unlike an exorcism minus the
biblical references. While it can be argued that she feels this way more for how he murdered her
loved ones than for his appearance, she does mention his looks often, i.e. “…a fouler toad. / Out
of my sight! Thou dost infect mine eyes” (Shakespeare 1.2 150-151). When he threatens to kill
himself, she begins to pity him. Arguably, this pity is too easily obtained, meaning she more than
likely pitied him for his appearance as well before he took her loved ones away. People tended to
stay willfully ignorant of Richard’s deeds, possibly afraid to die themselves. They knew he killed
George though, noted by Queen Margaret that “Thou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard killed
him” (Shakespeare 4.4 46).
I feel my piece stayed as true to Shakespeare as someone lacking his talent could
produce. I tried to incorporate the play as a whole into his speech as if it were his life flashing
before his eyes and how he viewed the way people viewed him. In the end, what he did was
always to make his own life better, no matter who it hurt.

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Works Cited:
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Richard III. 1592. ed. David Bevington. The
Necessary Shakespeare. 274-325. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.