If the devil tempt thee to do good (Jenna-Blog 15)

To our director:

Richard III is a play of such length that, in order to fulfill the theatrical conventions of our day, it must be cut to suit our audiences. Oftentimes, directors find that cutting the supernatural elements of the play provides a “quick fix” to the length problem as it leaves the plot relatively intact. In his 1995 film version, Richard Loncraine cut the supernatural to the bone. Not only did he remove the V.iii ghost scene, he also removed the character of Queen Margaret from the film and apportioned a selection of her lines to the Duchess of York. If you are considering making such a cut in our production, then this choice is the wisest one for two reasons. First, it would allow you to focus on Richard III as strict study in political machination, thereby closely calling attention to any particular political situation you which to reveal. This choice would generalize the medieval mentality of the play and allow an easy shift to a more modern setting. Secondly, if you are considering a supernatural cut, in order for the cut to be effective, you must cut both Margaret and the ghosts. If you simply remove the ghosts, you’ll weaken the dramaturgical structure of the play.

For instance, look at this exchange between Margaret and the Duchess of York in IV.iii:

DUCHESS OF YORK

Blind sight, dead life, poor mortal living ghost,
Woe's scene, world's shame, grave's due by life usurp'd,
Brief abstract and record of tedious days,
Rest thy unrest on England's lawful earth,

Unlawfully made drunk with innocents' blood!

QUEEN MARGARET

Bear with me; I am hungry for revenge,
And now I cloy me with beholding it.
Thy Edward he is dead, that stabb'd my Edward:
Thy other Edward dead, to quit my Edward;
Young York he is but boot, because both they
Match not the high perfection of my loss:
Thy Clarence he is dead that kill'd my Edward;
And the beholders of this tragic play,
The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,
Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves.
Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer,
Only reserved their factor, to buy souls
And send them thither: but at hand, at hand,
Ensues his piteous and unpitied end:
Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray.
To have him suddenly convey'd away.
Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray,
That I may live to say, The dog is dead!

This exchange presents Richard’s villainy in a cosmic way- as “Hell’s black intelligencer,” he plays with human life for his own gain. Margaret claims that he lives “to buy souls and send them thither” (to hell) and that his life is “reserved by their factor” to continue accumulating souls for devils. Margaret’s association with the dead grants her the authority to make such claims. As the Duchess of York described in the previous line, “life usurp’d”, that of Margaret’s husband and son, have granted her a “grave’s due” and transformed her into a “poor mortal living ghost.” It seems that Richard has been unable to procure her soul for the devil, but that her association with the fallen has dragged her half way there, into a position from which she gains the ability to curse and prophesy. The prophesy she utters in this scene directly related to the appearance of the ghosts in V.iii. She says, “but at hand, at hand, ensues his piteous and unpitied end: earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray. To have him suddenly convey’d away.” Here we see that the very fact that Richard serves hell as a black intelligencer ensues his piteous and unpitied end to be convey’d away through the gape in the earth in which hell burns, fiends roar, and saints pray. Margaret’s words create the eventuality of that the souls of the people she mentions earlier in the speech, Edward Lancaster, Edward IV and V, Richard Duke of York, Clarence, Hastings, Rivers, and Grey will gain the weight to drag Richard into Hell. Therefore, if you were to cut these ghosts without cutting Margaret, her curses will go unanswered, functionally, she will no longer serve any purpose in the play.

I would urge you to avoid cutting the supernatural element in Richard III. As Margaret presents Richard in the above speech, his villainous actions both create and unmake him. He provides a service for hell that both grants him status and ensures his downfall. By coupling both success and failure in one action, Richard’s arc is contained within his own character, making him more complex. If Richard were to simply be defeated by Richmond at Bosworth, the Richard becomes ordinary. He could be any villain defeated by any hero. But, this is not merely a play about Richard’s defeat. If it were, Shakespeare would not have given him so many soliloquies in which he uses words to skillfully manipulate the audience. Instead, Richard III is a villain whose performance we relish for its skill. Through the presentationalism of scenes like the one in which he is “persuaded” to take the crown, we may view this play as inherently theatrical. Its presentational nature provides moments during which we may analyze the nature of villainy by learning the ways in which it may be created (opening monologue and other soliloquies) and effectively used (crown scene and murder plots). Like Margaret’s speech about the souls of Richard’s victims, both of these aspects of villainy require a resolution. Since these two aspects of villainy have been forged through presentational means that induce a theatrical space for reflection, I would argue that the third aspect of villainy, its downfall, should be similarly presentational. I’ve provided several images of ways in which the ghosts may be staged to increase theatricality through presentational staging in V.iii. (Washington Shakespeare Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Hampsted Theatre, and The Globe) “If the devil tempt thee to do good,” (for the devil) temptation will serve its actor poorly.

Jenna