Name_____________________________
Richard III Review
Character List – write a characteristic about each character or one event the
person goes through that is significant. If you can’t think of much to say about
someone, what happens to him/her by the end of the play?
King Edward IV
Duchess of York
Prince Edward
Richard, Duke of York
George, the Duke of Clarence
Clarence's Son
Clarence's Daughter
Queen Elizabeth
King Edward's wife.
Anthony Woodeville, Earl Rivers
Marquis of Dorset
Lord Gray
Sir Thomas Vaughan
Lady Anne
William, Lord Hastings.
Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby
Henry Earl of Richmond
Duke of Buckingham
Sir Richard Ratcliffe
Sir William Catesby
Sir James Tyrrell
Two Murderers
Sir Robert Brackenbury
A Scrivener
Hastings
Quiz
1. Whom does Richard blame for Clarence’s murder?
(A) Buckingham
(B) Hastings
(C) Lady Anne
(D) King Edward
2. Who arranges the murders of the princes on Richard’s behalf?
(A) Buckingham
(B) Tyrrell
(C) Hastings
(D) Clarence
3. How many kings does England have during the play?
(A) Three
(B) Two
(C) One
(D) Zero
4. What dignitary is involved in Richard’s scheme to be crowned king?
(A) The high chamberlain
(B) The grand vizier
(C) The lord mayor
(D) The cardinal
5. To which house does Richard belong?
(A) York
(B) Lancaster
(C) Tudor
(D) Plantagenet
6. Which of the following characters is not one of Queen Elizabeth’s kinsmen?
(A) Dorset
(B) Rivers
(C) Gray
(D) Tyrrell
7. Which character does Richard hope to marry in Act IV?
(A) Anne
(B) Young Elizabeth
(C) Margaret
(D) The duchess
8. On whom does Richard blame his deformed arm?
(A) Hastings’s mistress and Queen Elizabeth
(B) Lady Anne
(C) Clarence
(D) Richmond
9. Why is it strange that Lady Anne would agree to marry Richard?
(A) Richard was previously married to Lady Anne’s sister
(B) Richard killed Lady Anne’s sister
(C) Richard killed Lady Anne’s husband
(D) All of the above
11. What is Richard’s heraldic emblem?
(A) The black rose
(B) The unicorn
(C) The sunburst
(D) The boar
12. Who delivers the curses that foreshadow many of the main characters’ eventual fates?
(A) Queen Elizabeth
(B) Margaret
(C) The duchess
(D) The Witch of Shells
13. For what does Richard say he would trade his kingdom during the final battle?
(A) A horse
(B) A sword
(C) A gun
(D) A better army
14. To whom does Queen Elizabeth promise the hand of young Elizabeth in marriage?
(A) Richard
(B) Clarence
(C) Richmond
(D) John of Gaunt
15. Why does Richard order Clarence’s murder?
(A) Clarence stands between him and the throne
(B) Clarence seduced Lady Anne
(C) Clarence is loyal to Henry VI
(D) Clarence is a Lancaster
16. To what house does Edward IV belong?
(A) The Yorks
(B) The Hapsburgs
(C) The Lancasters
(D) The Windsors
17. Whose son does Richard hold hostage?
(A) Hastings’s
(B) Stanley’s
(C) Richmond’s
(D) Anne’s
18. What do the ghosts say to Richard?
(A) “Despair, and die!”
(B) “Wither, bloody villain!”
(C) “Thy death, and England lives!”
(D) “Fie on thee and thy house!”
19. Why is Hastings pleased when Elizabeth’s kinsmen are executed?
(A) He realizes it will help Richard gain the throne
(B) He is jealous of the favor in which Richard holds them
(C) He is an enemy of the Woodevilles
(D) He will inherit their lands and their wealth
21. In what prison are the princes confined?
(A) Newgate Prison
(B) Reading Gaol
(C) Folsom Prison
(D) The Tower of London
23. To whom does Richard give his sword, claiming he wishes to be killed?
(A) Anne
(B) Rivers
(C) Clarence
(D) Richmond
24. How many ghosts curse Richard in Act V?
(A) Thirteen
(B) Twelve
(C) Eleven
(D) Nine
25. Why does Richard become alienated from Buckingham?
(A) Buckingham hesitates when Richard proposes killing the Princes
(B) Buckingham urges Richard not to marry young Elizabeth
(C) Buckingham defends Hastings at the council
(D) All of the above
Answers: D, B, A, C, A, D, B, A,C,D,B,A,C,A,A,B,A,C,D,A,C,A
Themes/devices
Good vs. evil
What signs of a good or bad leader does Richard possess?
What is Richard III saying about those in powerful positions?
The power of language or speeches.
Power of the supernatural?
Shakespeare’s use of dreams.
Know the reasons characters either succeed or fail
Is Margaret morally better or worse than Richard? Does she possess heroic or villainous traits?
How does Shakespeare characterize women and men in the play? Who gets better treatment?
What character flaws do characters possess that cause their deaths?
Who displays heroic traits in the play?