William Shakespeare's historical drama centers on Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a physically deformed and bitterly ambitious nobleman who determines to prove a villain in a time of peace. Richard orchestrates the imprisonment and murder of his brother Clarence, feeding King Edward false prophecies while feigning deep piety and innocence to mask his treachery. Through calculated manipulation, he successfully woos Lady Anne, whose husband and father-in-law he has previously slain, using her very hatred and grief as instruments in his game.
As the sickly King Edward dies, Richard swiftly moves to consolidate power, eliminating the queen's relatives including Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan through swift executions at Pomfret Castle. He captures the young princes, Edward and York, and confines them to the Tower of London before executing Lord Hastings, who foolishly dismisses early warnings of treason. Backed by the Duke of Buckingham, Richard manufactures claims of the young princes' bastardy and orchestrates a reluctant public acceptance of the crown, ascending the throne as King Richard the Third.
Once crowned, Richard's paranoia deepens. He commands Sir James Tyrrel to murder the young princes in the Tower and plans to marry young Elizabeth, his niece, after dispatching his ailing wife, Queen Anne. However, opposition rapidly builds as exiled nobles rally around Henry, Earl of Richmond, who gathers an invasion force in France.
Discontent fractures Richard's alliances. When Richard denies Buckingham the promised earldom of Hereford, Buckingham flees, is captured, and faces execution on All-Souls' day, fulfilling the prophetic curses laid upon the court by the exiled Queen Margaret. Margaret's earlier curses come back to haunt every perpetrator of past violence as the opposing armies converge on Bosworth Field.
On the eve of battle, the ghosts of all those Richard murdered—including the princes, Clarence, Hastings, and Anne—appear in his tent to prophesy his doom and comfort Richmond. Tormented by guilt and a terrified conscience, Richard wakes from a nightmare, realizing he is entirely unloved and doomed.
During the decisive battle at Bosworth Field, Richard fights with desperate fury, famously crying out for a horse when unhorsed, before being slain in single combat by Richmond. Richmond is crowned as King Henry the Seventh, uniting the warring houses of Lancaster and York through his marriage to Elizabeth, thus restoring peace to England.
