# Scene III explained — Richard III

> Chapter companion for Richard III by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

At Pomfret Castle, Sir Richard Ratcliff escorts Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan to their execution. The prisoners lament their fate, recalling Queen Margaret's curse and the murder of Prince Edward, and express hope for divine justice.

## Themes in this chapter

### Revenge and Justice

The prisoners invoke Queen Margaret's curse as divine retribution for their complicity in the murder of her son, highlighting the theme of cyclical vengeance.

### Fate and Prophecy

Rivers and Grey see Margaret's curse as an inescapable fate now fulfilled, underscoring the play's preoccupation with prophecy and predestined doom.

## Character check-ins

### Sir Richard Ratcliff

Oversees the execution of Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan at Pomfret Castle.

### Earl Rivers

Led to execution, he speaks of dying for truth, duty, and loyalty, and recalls the murder of Richard II at Pomfret.

### Lord Grey

Condemned to death, he curses the 'damned blood-suckers' and notes that Margaret's curse has fallen upon them.

### Sir Thomas Vaughan

Facing execution, he warns that those responsible will cry woe for this deed.

## Key lines

> O Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison, Fatal and ominous to noble peers! Within the guilty closure of thy walls Richard the second here was hack’d to death; And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, We give thee up our guiltless blood to drink.

Rivers laments that Pomfret Castle is a cursed place where King Richard II was murdered, and now their innocent blood will be spilled there as well.

_Rivers draws a parallel between the historical murder of Richard II and their own unjust execution._

> Now Margaret’s curse is fall’n upon our heads, For standing by when Richard stabb’d her son.

Grey acknowledges that Queen Margaret's curse has come true because they did nothing to stop Richard from killing her son.

_This line directly ties the current execution to the earlier curse, reinforcing the theme of retribution._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/richard_iii_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/richard_iii_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/richard_iii_se/chapters