Characters

The cast of Richard III

The people who make Richard III move — what they want, who they love, who they hate, and how each one fits the story. Tap any name to read more.

father; grandmothers

Boy (Clarence's Son)

Innocent child of Clarence; voice of familial trust and dynastic uncertainty

English nobilitys

Duke of Buckingham

Richard's chief architect and co-conspirator; master of persuasion and public manipulation

John, Duke of Norfolk

Richard's military commander and trusted ally at Bosworth

Son of the Duke of York; brother to Edward IV and Richard; father to Margaret Plantagenets

George, Duke of Clarence

Trusting nobleman and victim of Richard's ambition · Middle-aged

Father of George Stanley; husband of the Countess Richmonds

Lord Derby

Kingmaker and mediator; loyal supporter of Richmond who constrains his aid to protect his son

Woodville (mother Queen Elizabeth; brother Grey)s

Dorset

Queen Elizabeth's son; a Woodville nobleman caught in Richard's machinations

Mother of Richard, Clarence, and Edward IVs

The Duchess of York

Grieving mother and voice of old order; witness to her son's crimes · elderly

House of York; son of the Duke of York; brother to King Edward IV and the Duke of Clarences

Richard, Duke of Gloucester

Ambitious schemer who becomes King Richard III; the play's magnetic villain · Thirty, or thereabouts

House of Yorks

King Richard III

Usurping tyrant and murderous schemer who seizes the throne through calculated violence and rhetorical mastery, only to unravel into paranoia and despair · thirty

King Edward IV

The dying Yorkist king, weakened by illness and unable to prevent the bloodshed his authority should command · Middle-aged

House of Lancaster (by marriage to Prince Edward)s

Lady Anne

Widow of Prince Edward; reluctant queen-to-be; victim of Richard's seduction · Young widow

King Edward IV (father); Queen Elizabeth (mother); young York (younger brother)s

Prince Edward (young Edward, Prince of Wales)

Precocious young heir to the throne; innocent victim of Richard's ambition · Young child (exact age not specified, but described as a boy)

Wife of King Edward IV; mother of the two young princes and Princess Elizabeth; sister to Rivers and Greys

Queen Elizabeth

Protective mother and widow, caught between maternal love and political powerlessness · Middle-aged

Wife of Henry VI; mother of Prince Edwards

Queen Margaret

Exiled prophetess and living curse upon Richard's reign · Elderly

Tudor claimant; will marry Elizabeth of York to unite the houses

Henry, Earl of Richmond

Liberating force and future king; the play's moral counterweight to Richard's tyranny

Woodville family; brother to Queen Elizabeths

Lord Rivers

Loyal Woodville lord and victim of Richard's conspiracy

Derby's father; George Stanley is his sons

Lord Stanley

Cautious nobleman caught between loyalty and survival

king-edward-iv; queen-elizabeth; prince-edwards

York

Young Prince of Wales, son of King Edward IV; precocious child caught in the machinery of Richard's ambition · approximately 8-10 years old

Other characters

Lord Hastings

The Lord Chamberlain; Richard's most devoted admirer and first major victim

First Murderer

Hired assassin and instrument of Richard's will

Catesby

Richard's cunning spy and messenger; instrument of his will

Second Murderer

Reluctant assassin plagued by conscience

Ratcliff

Richard's loyal soldier and personal attendant

Brakenbury

Lieutenant of the Tower; reluctant guard to the doomed princes

Messenger

Bearer of news and military intelligence

James Tyrrel

Richard's hired assassin; executor of the murder of the young princes

Third Citizen

Commoner who foresees England's troubled future

Lord Mayor of London

Civic authority caught between Richard's manipulation and moral duty

First Citizen

Common Londoner and voice of public anxiety

Bishop of Ely

Ecclesiastical counselor to the protector; reluctant facilitator of Richard's schemes

Second Citizen

Common observer of political instability; voice of popular anxiety
In the app

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