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Richard’s death is conveyed only in stage directions in the text—uncharacteristically, Shakespeare does not even give him a dying speech. Richard’s death comes as no surprise, however. His final scenes only enact the outcome that the play has already established as inevitable, both in terms of narrative shape and in terms of moral resolution. In broad terms, the first part of the play shows a gradual rise in Richard’s fortunes and power. These fortunes peak and then decline dramatically. Buckingham’s hesitation to help Richard kill the young princes in Act IV, scene ii, moments after Richard’s coronation, marks the beginning of Richard’s decline into paranoia and his gradual loss of control of the events around him. The duchess of York’s curses and Elizabeth’s deception of Richard in Act IV, scene iv confirm this downward slide, which reaches its low with Richard’s nightmare—and subsequent self-questioning—in Act V, scene v. After all of these events, it is clear that Richard’s death, which has been predicted and prophesied many times by many people, is only a matter of time.

Richard’s final scenes do illustrate something of the frenzied selfishness of his mind. Shakespeare depicts the gradual devolution of his bold and reckless fighting on the battlefield, as he goes from fighting to protect his power and his kingdom to fighting simply to protect his neck. Richard lacks the sense of higher purpose with which Richmond has been endowed, and thus he lacks the ability to die nobly. In the end, Richard is obsessed with his own self-preservation, as indicated by his cry of “[a] horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” (V.vii.7, 13). In this moment, Richard clearly reveals his priorities. He would trade everything for a horse on which to improve his chances of surviving the battle rather than die honorably for his cause.

Richmond’s final speech primarily serves a narrative purpose, showing that Richard, the villain of the play, has been...