Editing Richard III (play) (section)

===Free will and fatalism===
[[File:Copper-alloy boar mount from the Thames foreshore (London).jpg|thumb|left|Queen Margaret: "Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!" Act 1, Scene III. The [[white boar]] was Richard's personal symbol: Bronze [[boar]] mount thought to have been worn by a supporter of Richard III.<ref>{{Cite news | title=Boar mount belonging to Richard III detected | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9718849/Boar-mount-belonging-to-Richard-III-detected.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121205234219/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9718849/Boar-mount-belonging-to-Richard-III-detected.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 December 2012 | newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London | date=3 December 2012 | access-date=2012-12-03 }}</ref>]]
One of the central themes of ''Richard III'' is the idea of fate, especially as it is seen through the tension between free will and fatalism in Richard's actions and speech, as well as the reactions to him by other characters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Connolly |first1=Annaliese |title=Richard III: A Critical Reader |date=4 December 2013 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4411-2774-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JXgRAgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> There is no doubt that Shakespeare drew heavily on [[Sir Thomas More]]'s account of Richard&nbsp;III as a criminal and tyrant as inspiration for his own rendering. This influence, especially as it relates to the role of divine punishment in Richard's rule of England, reaches its height in the voice of Margaret. Janis Lull suggests that "Margaret gives voice to the belief, encouraged by the growing [[Calvinism]] of the [[Elizabethan]] era, that individual historical events are determined by God, who often punishes evil with (apparent) evil".<ref name=Lull/>{{rp|p.6–8|date=November 2012}}

Thus it seems possible that Shakespeare, in conforming to the growing "Tudor Myth" of the day, as well as taking into account new theologies of divine action and human will becoming popular in the wake of the Protestant [[Reformation]], sought to paint Richard as the final curse of God on England in punishment for the deposition of [[Richard&nbsp;II]] in 1399.<ref name=Lull/>{{rp|p.6–8|date=November 2012}} Irving Ribner argued that "the evil path of Richard is a cleansing operation which roots evil out of society and restores the world at last to the God-ordained goodness embodied in the new rule of Henry&nbsp;VII".<ref name=Ribner/>{{rp|p.62|date=November 2012}}

Scholar [[Victor Kiernan]] writes that this interpretation is a perfect fit with the English social perspective of Shakespeare's day: "An extension is in progress of a privileged class's assurance of preferential treatment in the next world as in this, to a favoured nation's conviction of having God on its side, of Englishmen being&nbsp;... the new Chosen People".<ref name=Kiernan/>{{rp|p.111–112|date=November 2012}} 

However, historical fatalism is merely one side of the argument of fate versus [[free will]]. It is also possible that Shakespeare intended to portray Richard as "a personification of the [[Niccolò Machiavelli|Machiavellian]] view of history as power politics".<ref name=Lull/>{{rp|p.6–8|date=November 2012}} In this view, Richard is acting entirely out of his own free will in brutally taking hold of the English throne. Kiernan also presents this side of the coin, noting that Richard "boasts to us of his finesse in dissembling and deception with bits of [[Bible|Scripture]] to cloak his 'naked villainy' (I.iii.334–348)&nbsp;... Machiavelli, as Shakespeare may want us to realise, is not a safe guide to practical politics".<ref name=Kiernan/>{{rp|p.111–112|date=November 2012}}

Kiernan suggests that Richard is merely acting as if God is determining his every step in a sort of Machiavellian manipulation of religion as an attempt to circumvent the moral conscience of those around him. Therefore, [[historical determinism]] is merely an illusion perpetrated by Richard's assertion of his own free will. The Machiavellian reading of the play finds evidence in Richard's interactions with the audience, as when he mentions that he is "determinèd to prove a villain" (I.i.30). However, though it seems Richard views himself as completely in control, Lull suggests that Shakespeare is using Richard to state "the tragic conception of the play in a joke. His primary meaning is that he controls his own destiny. His pun also has a second, contradictory meaning—that his villainy is predestined—and the strong providentialism of the play ultimately endorses this meaning".<ref name=Lull/>{{rp|p.6–8|date=November 2012}}

Literary critic Paul Haeffner writes that Shakespeare had a great understanding of language and the potential of every word he used.<ref name=Haeffner/>{{rp|p.56–60|date=November 2012}} One word that Shakespeare gave potential to was "joy". This is employed in Act&nbsp;I, Scene&nbsp;III, where it is used to show "deliberate emotional effect".<ref name=Haeffner/>{{rp|p.56–60|date=November 2012}} Another word that Haeffner points out is "kind", which he suggests is used with two different definitions.

The first definition is used to express a "gentle and loving" man, which Clarence uses to describe his brother Richard to the murderers that were sent to kill him. This definition is not true, as Richard uses a gentle façade to seize the throne. The second definition concerns "the person's true nature&nbsp;... Richard will indeed use Hastings kindly—that is, just as he is in the habit of using people—brutally".<ref name=Haeffner/>{{rp|p.56–60|date=November 2012}}

Haeffner also writes about how speech is written. He compares the speeches of Richmond and Richard to their soldiers. He describes Richmond's speech as "dignified" and formal, while Richard's speech is explained as "slangy and impetuous".<ref name=Haeffner/>{{rp|p.56–60|date=November 2012}} Richard's casualness in speech is also noted by another writer. However, Lull does not make the comparison between Richmond and Richard as Haeffner does, but between Richard and the women in his life. However, it is important to the women share the formal language that Richmond uses. She makes the argument that the difference in speech "reinforces the thematic division between the women's identification with the social group and Richard's individualism".<ref name=Lull/>{{rp|p.22–23|date=November 2012}} Haeffner agrees that Richard is "an individualist, hating dignity and formality".<ref name=Haeffner/>{{rp|p.56–60|date=November 2012}}

Janis Lull also takes special notice of the mourning women. She suggests that they are associated with "figures of repetition as anaphora—beginning each clause in a sequence with the same word—and epistrophe—repeating the same word at the end of each clause".<ref name=Lull/>{{rp|p.22–23|date=November 2012}} One example of the epistrophe can be found in Margaret's speech in Act&nbsp;I, Scene&nbsp;III. Haeffner refers to these as few of many "devices and tricks of style" that occur in the play, showcasing Shakespeare's ability to bring out the potential of every word.<ref name=Haeffner/>{{rp|p.56–60|date=November 2012}}