Diction In Richard III

As just young children, we are almost immediately taught about the power of our words. Parents constantly lecture children on the consequences of what they say, emphasizing how powerful just one word can be to someone. Often, we are taught this with bullying. A common saying we learned as children is “If you don’t have nothing to say, don’t say it at all.” Throughout Shakespeare’s epic, Richard III, there is a clear theme showing the power of word choice. Richard uses words to gain power, woo Lady Anne, motivate his army, and to trick Hastings in putting himself to death. Throughout Richard III, Shakespeare shows the power of diction in getting what one wants. The first evidence of the power of diction is evident when Richard wins over Lady
In Act I Scene I, Richard’s brother Clarence is sent to the tower, the prison, by King Henry. Richard meets him in the tower and talks with him about his imprisonment, blaming it all on the King’s wife. In reality, Richard was indirectly responsible for the imprisonment of Clarence by starting rumors. Richard wanted Clarence in prison because he was in the way of Richard’s way to the throne. However, it does not end with Clarence’s imprisonment. Instead, Richard blames everything on the queen and promises to free Clarence. Thus gaining Clarence’s trust. While Clarence is in prison, he has a terrible dream foreshadowing his death. Following the dream, two murderers come to Clarence on Richard’s behalf. However, Clarence refuses to believe that Richard would do such thing because they were brothers and Richard had sworn his loyalty to him. After some debate, the murderers kill Clarence. It is evident in this scene that Richard used words to gain Clarence’s trust, but then broke it, resulting in his death. Clarence’s death was exactly what Richard wanted as he was in his way to the