Richard III, Act 5 Scene 1 runs 29 lines of dialogue, spoken by 2 speakers. That is shorter than the play’s average scene length of about 148 lines. This scene is part of Act 5 of Richard III.
Full Dialogue
Buckingham ♂
Will not King Richard let me speak with him?
Sheriff ♂
No, my good lord; therefore be patient.
Buckingham ♂
Hastings, and Edward's children, Rivers, Grey,
Holy King Henry, and thy fair son Edward,
Vaughan, and all that have miscarried
By underhand corrupted foul injustice,
If that your moody discontented souls
Do through the clouds behold this present hour,
Even for revenge mock my destruction!
This is All-Souls' day, fellows, is it not?
Holy King Henry, and thy fair son Edward,
Vaughan, and all that have miscarried
By underhand corrupted foul injustice,
If that your moody discontented souls
Do through the clouds behold this present hour,
Even for revenge mock my destruction!
This is All-Souls' day, fellows, is it not?
Sheriff ♂
It is, my lord.
Buckingham ♂
Why, then All-Souls' day is my body's doomsday.
This is the day that, in King Edward's time,
I wish't might fall on me, when I was found
False to his children or his wife's allies
This is the day wherein I wish'd to fall
By the false faith of him I trusted most;
This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul
Is the determined respite of my wrongs:
That high All-Seer that I dallied with
Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head
And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men
To turn their own points on their masters' bosoms:
Now Margaret's curse is fallen upon my head;
'When he,' quoth she, 'shall split thy heart with sorrow,
Remember Margaret was a prophetess.'
Come, sirs, convey me to the block of shame;
Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame.
This is the day that, in King Edward's time,
I wish't might fall on me, when I was found
False to his children or his wife's allies
This is the day wherein I wish'd to fall
By the false faith of him I trusted most;
This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul
Is the determined respite of my wrongs:
That high All-Seer that I dallied with
Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head
And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men
To turn their own points on their masters' bosoms:
Now Margaret's curse is fallen upon my head;
'When he,' quoth she, 'shall split thy heart with sorrow,
Remember Margaret was a prophetess.'
Come, sirs, convey me to the block of shame;
Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame.
29 lines rendered verbatim from the dialogue corpus.
Who’s On Stage
Speaking characters in this scene
| Character | Lines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Buckingham | 27 | 93.1% |
| Sheriff | 2 | 6.9% |
Line distribution
The top speaker in this scene delivers 27 lines, while the scene’s average per speaker is about 15 lines.
Total speakers on stage
2 named characters speak in this scene.
Scene in Context
Position within Act 5
This is Scene 1 of 5 in Act 5 of Richard III.
Scene length vs. play average
At 29 lines, this scene is shorter than the Richard III average scene in Richard III (~148 lines).
Adjacent scenes
Previous: Act 4 Scene 5 · Next: Act 5 Scene 2