Shakespeare · Soliloquies & Solo Speeches
Production Notes
On the eve of Bosworth Field, Richard wakes from a nightmare in which every ghost of every person he has murdered has cursed him. This speech is the result: a fractured, self-interrogating unraveling in which Richard tries to locate his conscience and finds it entirely intact — and entirely condemning. It is his most human moment.
The speech is extraordinary for the internal debate it stages — Richard literally argues with himself, asking and answering his own questions. Players who can make each turn feel like a genuine discovery — not a performance of confusion — will find its full power.
Script
KING RICHARD (starting up out of a dream)
Give me another horse! Bind up my wounds! Have mercy, Jesu! — Soft, I did but dream. O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me! The lights burn blue; it is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What do I fear? Myself? There’s none else by. Richard loves Richard, that is, I am I. Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am. Then fly! What, from myself? Great reason why: Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself? Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any good That I myself have done unto myself? O, no. Alas, I rather hate myself For hateful deeds committed by myself. I am a villain. Yet I lie; I am not. Fool, of thyself speak well. Fool, do not flatter. My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, And every tongue brings in a several tale, And every tale condemns me for a villain. Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree; Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree; All several sins, all used in each degree, Throng to the bar, crying all “Guilty, guilty!” I shall despair. There is no creature loves me, And if I die no soul will pity me. And wherefore should they, since that I myself Find in myself no pity to myself?
Facilitator Notes
Warm-up: Ask Players to name something they’ve done that they’d prefer not to think about. Then explore the body’s response to self-accusation — not guilt as an idea, but as a physical state.
Debrief prompts:
- Richard asks “Is there a murderer here?” and immediately answers himself. What does it mean that he cannot lie to himself, even though he has lied to everyone else?
- “There is no creature loves me.” Is this self-pity, factual observation, or both?
- The speech starts in a half-waking state and ends in full clarity. Where is the turn?
- Players often discover that Richard’s funniest moments and his most broken moment are this speech. How does that coexist?