Thursday, January 17, 2013
And Now the Star of the Show: Second Murderer
One characteristic of Shakespeare's histories is the inclusion of characters from lowly social positions who rub elbows with the high and mighty. In Richard III the most prominent scene in which this happens is the murder of Clarence (Act 1, Scene 4). In this scene the murderers engage in a dialogue with themselves as well as with the Duke of Clarence about the nature of conscience and the moral correctness of their errand of murder. Indeed, one of the prospective murders (Second Murderer) proves his name to be a misnomer as he refuses to participate in the slaughter or even in the rewards of the deed. What is the point of this scene? How do the murderers compare with the noble characters, their "superiors"? Also, what is the point of using prose for the murderers and ultimately switched to blank verse?
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The scene with the two murderers going to the tower to kill Clarence is very interesting and has a deep meaning. It shows how people can change remarkably over a short period of time. In Act I, Scene III, Richard hires two commoners to get rid of Clarence. He is certain that they are the right people for the job and says of them: “Your eyes drop millstones when fools’ eyes fall / tears” (Act 1, Sc. 3:73-74), meaning that they have no compassion for others. The murderers themselves are sure they can perform the bloody deed without difficulty. However, as soon as they enter the tower and see Clarence asleep, the second murderer begins to doubt his readiness to kill. This scene, like many others in the play, has religious and biblical references. When the first murderer asks the second whether he is afraid to kill Clarence, he replies: “Not to kill him, having a warrant, / but to be damned for killing him, from the which / no warrant can defend me” (Act 1, Sc. 4:114-116). Here the killer looks to the consequences he will have to face if he commits murder, and understands that he will have to answer for his deed before God. Then, the other killer reminds him of the reward they will both receive if they complete Richard’s order, and the second murderer quickly forgets his momentary compassion, saying, “{Zounds,} he dies! I had forgot the / reward” (Act 1, Sc. 4:129-130). Here, the second murderer’s action mirrors that of Judas Iscariot, who had been given thirty pieces of silver by the high priests to betray Jesus. In both cases, money plays an important role, and some people will do anything, even betray God, in order to gain more material wealth.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, after Clarence is killed, the second murderer feels sorry for what happened, and for being part of the crime. He reflects upon his thoughts, saying, “A bloody deed, and desperately dispatched. / How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands / Of this most grievous murder” (Act 1, Sc. 4:284-286). Finally, he tells his accomplice, “Take thou the fee, … / For I repent me that the Duke is slain” (Act 1, Sc. 4:291-292). This is exactly how Judas reacted when he saw that Christ had been condemned to death: “he repented, and brought again the thirty pieces [of silver] to the princes of priests, and to the elder men of the people, 4 and said, I have sinned, betraying rightful blood” (Matthew 27:3-4, WYC). The second murderer, like Judas, feels sorry for “betraying” the innocent Clarence, and decides not to take the reward. In this scene, the second murderer goes from being determined to kill, to not participating directly in the deed, to regretting his participation in the murder altogether.
In Shakespeare’s histories there are often ‘lower’ characters who interact with the ‘higher’ characters and have a major impact on the story. True to form, the scene of the conversation between the murderers and their victim is one of the most interesting in the play. The murderers are lowborn while people like Richard are highborn. But Richard is able to kill without a second thought, while the supposedly lesser people have a deep conversation about whether they should do it. Ultimately, one of the murderers even decides to be a moral person and refuses to help kill Clarence or even take the reward. Meanwhile, nobles are perfectly willing to kill others to attain power and wealth. Thus the lower classes seem to be moral, while everyone in the court is mired in deceit and blood. The murderers speak in prose for the first half of the scene in, signifying their social class. But as soon as Clarence wakes up, when they talk about morality and one murderer decides to not kill, they switch to blank verse. This shows that they have transcended their class and have become noble through their actions rather than their blood. Because they had a conscience, they are no longer low. Shakespeare here makes a commentary on another larger theme of the book: the relationship between highborn and lowborn people and which is indeed better.. Many times characters lament that one can be a lord one day and a commoner the next, or the other way around. This is the situation here; Clarence was one of the most powerful people in the kingdom, and is now due to be assassinated by commoners.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Justin that the use of prose and blank verse signifies status and can ambiguously insert morals and values into a character's speech. The murderer scene is a very interesting one to me. I think that the murderers signify the troubles of the time that came with the War of Roses. Families were torn apart between the York's and Lancaster's. Families had to do what they had to do in order to survive under the constantly changing rule of England's superiors. The murderers exemplify this stereotype in every way.
ReplyDeleteThe first murderer is more willing to commit these crimes because of that when Richard "opens his purse to give us / our reward, thy conscience flies out." (I.4.134-135) The first murderers conscience clearly depicts the chaotic and violent rule of the time. While other people, like the second murderer, hestitate to commit such awful crimes but are pushed by the thought of money or rewards. The second murder exclaims, "(Zounds,) he dies! I had forgot the / reward." (I.4.129-130) In the end though, he hesitates from the murder and even repents so much that he is not even willing to collect his reward.
Shakespeare switches from blank verse to prose to signify the importance that morality played during this era. The murderers, who are commoners, are not taken very seriously because they are lowly. They do not have the high status like Richard or Clarence have. Their speeches do not demand the same respect as the other characters. But as soon as morality and values come into question, their speech switches and this suggests, almost secretively insists, that the reader to pay more attention to what they have to say. They, specifically the second murderer, exemplify more morals and values than any of the royal characters in this play. Shakespeare switches the mode of speech to make a comment on what it means to have status and how morality is intertwined within it.
Often with Shakespeare, the lowly common characters are the ones that hold significance over others. Here, I would like to compare the importance of second murderer with the importance of Richond. When we compare the speeches of second murderer, a character without a specific name, to a character such as Richmond, the “hero” of the play, there are heavy differences. Neither character is seen on stage as much as other characters but both are significant. Second murderer’s speech forces the audience to ponder the conscience of everyone in the play, while Richmond is responsible for killing the character who lacks a conscience.
ReplyDeleteIn the scene with the murderers, we see the conscience spill of two characters. Clarence and second murderer both have a moment of self-reflection. For the murderer he is aware of the consequences his deeds will bring before he acts on them, while Clarence does not feel his guilt until the moment before he is killed. The characters who are powerful in the play speak in verse, while the murderers, the commoners, speak in prose. It is the powerful ones, such as Richard and Clarence, who are ruthless in their decision making to achieve a higher position. For such a seemingly small character in the plot, Second murderer fulfills his purpose as he gives Clarence a sense of conscience just before his death.
Richmond plays a role in being compared to Second Murderer because although he is not a commoner like the murderer, he is responsible for producing guilt from Richard. Throughout the entirety of the play, we see Richard as completely ruthless and never having time to stop and self-reflect. In the conclusion of the play, Richard’s conscience is introduced on the eve of his death. He is aware that Richmond will cause his death and is suddenly feeling a sense of guilt for other deaths he has caused.
Second murderer’s scene presents is enjoyable and hold weight as we see throughout the rest of the play from that point. We see that it takes a common person, transforming to a somewhat ruthless, “noble-like” character to bring a conscience out of the most significant characters.
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