An Analysis of Shakespeare's Richard III

Richmond appears late in the play, in act five scene two [good for setting the context], too perfect as opposed to Richard’s villainy. Richmond is presented in the play as flawless and holy, causing the audience to be unable to see from his point of view, thereby allowing Shakespeare to present Richmond’s purity as a foil to Richard’s villainy [expression here doesn’t make clear your position]. Furthermore, Richmond is a static and flat [good] character who does not change throughout the play while Richard is a complex character with differing layers as he plays different roles in the play and change throughout the entire play. Lastly, parallels can be drawn between Richard and Richmond, from the similarity in name to their introduction and finally their speech to their armies before the battle. [so what is your stand? Understand that in this quote there are two big contentious points – Richmond ONLY to be a foil and Richmond AS much a hero AS Richard a villain.]
Richmond is the foil to Richard’s evil as Shakespeare presents him as a perfect character without any flaws, and in some sense too ‘holy’ [sure]. In his speech to his army before the battle against Richard, he evokes the God’s name for his battle, elevating his cause. The repetition of the “God” in Richmond’s speech indicates the ‘rightness’ of the battle against Richard, who is a “bloody tyrant and a homicide”. By nNaming Richard “God’s enemy” allows Richmond to justify his decision to wage war on Richard in order to wrest the kingdom from Richard’s hands. Next, the alliteration of “God” and “good cause” in “God and our good cause fight upon our side” is indicative of the greatness of the battle and how it is a “good cause” to take on, spurring the soldiers to give their all in the name of “God”. By associating “God” and “good cause” together with alliteration allows Shakespeare to show Richmond’s justification of the battle against Richard. Hence, we see Richmond’s holiness and flawlessness from his