The cast of Richard III
The people who make Richard III move — what they want, who they love, who they hate, and how each one fits the story. Tap any name to read more.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Ambitious schemer who becomes King Richard III; the play's magnetic villain · Thirty, or thereabouts
King Richard III
Usurping tyrant and murderous schemer who seizes the throne through calculated violence and rhetorical mastery, only to unravel into paranoia and despair · thirty
Queen Elizabeth
Protective mother and widow, caught between maternal love and political powerlessness · Middle-aged
Duke of Buckingham
Richard's chief architect and co-conspirator; master of persuasion and public manipulation
Lady Anne
Widow of Prince Edward; reluctant queen-to-be; victim of Richard's seduction · Young widow
Lord Hastings
The Lord Chamberlain; Richard's most devoted admirer and first major victim
The Duchess of York
Grieving mother and voice of old order; witness to her son's crimes · elderly
Queen Margaret
Exiled prophetess and living curse upon Richard's reign · Elderly
First Murderer
Hired assassin and instrument of Richard's will
Catesby
Richard's cunning spy and messenger; instrument of his will
George, Duke of Clarence
Trusting nobleman and victim of Richard's ambition · Middle-aged
Second Murderer
Reluctant assassin plagued by conscience
Lord Rivers
Loyal Woodville lord and victim of Richard's conspiracy
York
Young Prince of Wales, son of King Edward IV; precocious child caught in the machinery of Richard's ambition · approximately 8-10 years old
Prince Edward (young Edward, Prince of Wales)
Precocious young heir to the throne; innocent victim of Richard's ambition · Young child (exact age not specified, but described as a boy)
Lord Derby
Kingmaker and mediator; loyal supporter of Richmond who constrains his aid to protect his son
Ratcliff
Richard's loyal soldier and personal attendant
Brakenbury
Lieutenant of the Tower; reluctant guard to the doomed princes
Henry, Earl of Richmond
Liberating force and future king; the play's moral counterweight to Richard's tyranny
Lord Stanley
Cautious nobleman caught between loyalty and survival
Messenger
Bearer of news and military intelligence
King Edward IV
The dying Yorkist king, weakened by illness and unable to prevent the bloodshed his authority should command · Middle-aged
James Tyrrel
Richard's hired assassin; executor of the murder of the young princes
Third Citizen
Commoner who foresees England's troubled future
John, Duke of Norfolk
Richard's military commander and trusted ally at Bosworth
Lord Mayor of London
Civic authority caught between Richard's manipulation and moral duty
Boy (Clarence's Son)
Innocent child of Clarence; voice of familial trust and dynastic uncertainty
Dorset
Queen Elizabeth's son; a Woodville nobleman caught in Richard's machinations
First Citizen
Common Londoner and voice of public anxiety
Bishop of Ely
Ecclesiastical counselor to the protector; reluctant facilitator of Richard's schemes
Second Citizen
Common observer of political instability; voice of popular anxiety
Hear every line of Richard III, narrated.
