Original: What, do you tremble? are you all afraid?
Modern: What’s wrong? Are you trembling? Are you all scared?

Original: Alas, I blame you not; for you are mortal,
Modern: Well, I don’t blame you for being afraid; you’re only human,

Original: And mortal eyes cannot endure the devil.
Modern: And human eyes can’t bear to look at the devil.

Original: Avaunt, thou dreadful minister of hell!
Modern: Get away from here, you horrible servant of hell!

Original: Thou hadst but power over his mortal body,
Modern: You only had power over his physical body,

Original: His soul thou canst not have; therefore be gone.
Modern: You can’t have his soul; so go away.

Original: Foul devil, for God’s sake, hence, and trouble us not;
Modern: You disgusting devil, for God’s sake, leave us alone and stop bothering us;

Original: For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell,
Modern: Because you’ve turned this once-happy world into your own hell,

Original: Fill’d it with cursing cries and deep exclaims.
Modern: Filling it with cursing, screaming, and terrible cries.

Original: If thou delight to view thy heinous deeds,
Modern: If you enjoy looking at the horrible things you’ve done,

Original: Behold this pattern of thy butcheries.
Modern: Then look at this example of your brutal murders.

Original: O, gentlemen, see, see! dead Henry’s wounds
Modern: Oh, gentlemen, look, look! Dead King Henry’s wounds

Original: Open their congeal’d mouths and bleed afresh!
Modern: Are opening up their clotted lips and bleeding again!

Original: Blush, Blush, thou lump of foul deformity;
Modern: Be ashamed, be ashamed, you hideous, misshapen monster;

Original: For ‘tis thy presence that exhales this blood
Modern: Because it’s your presence here that’s causing this blood

Original: From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells;
Modern: To flow from cold, empty veins that should have no blood left;

Original: Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural,
Modern: Your actions, which are cruel and against nature,

Original: Provokes this deluge most unnatural.
Modern: Are causing this unnatural flood of blood.

Original: O God, which this blood madest, revenge his death!
Modern: Oh God, you who created this blood, get revenge for his death!

Original: O earth, which this blood drink’st revenge his death!
Modern: Oh earth, you who drink up this blood, get revenge for his death!

Original: Either heaven with lightning strike the murderer dead,
Modern: Either let heaven strike this murderer dead with lightning,

Original: Or earth, gape open wide and eat him quick,
Modern: Or let the earth split open wide and swallow him alive,

Original: As thou dost swallow up this good king’s blood
Modern: Just like you’re soaking up this good king’s blood

Original: Which his hell-govern’d arm hath butchered!
Modern: That his devil-controlled arm has spilled through murder!

In Act I, Scene ii of Richard III, Lady Anne encounters the funeral procession of King Henry VI, whom Richard has murdered. As she mourns over the coffin and curses Richard for his crimes, Richard himself appears and boldly interrupts the procession. Despite Anne’s initial horror and fierce resistance, Richard begins an audacious courtship, claiming that his love for her motivated his killings of both her husband Edward (Henry VI’s son) and her father-in-law Henry VI. Anne responds with curses and spits at him, calling him a devil and murderer.

Through persistent rhetoric and psychological manipulation, Richard gradually wears down Anne’s defenses. He offers her his sword to kill him if she truly hates him, then presents her with a ring, declaring his love and asking her to marry him. Remarkably, by the scene’s end, Anne accepts both the ring and his marriage proposal. After she exits, Richard reveals his true contempt for her in a soliloquy, marveling at how easily he has won over a woman whose husband and father-in-law he murdered, and expressing his intention to discard her once she has served his political purposes.

Richard III opens with Richard, Duke of Gloucester, revealing his villainous intentions to claim the throne of England. Despite his physical deformities, he is determined to remove all obstacles to his coronation. He begins by manipulating his brother Clarence into imprisonment and death, convincing King Edward IV that Clarence poses a threat. Richard also courts Lady Anne, widow of Prince Edward (whom Richard killed), successfully wooing her despite having murdered both her husband and father-in-law. When King Edward IV dies, Richard is named Lord Protector for the young Prince Edward, heir to the throne.

Richard systematically eliminates his rivals and supporters of the rightful heirs. He has Lord Hastings executed for opposing his claim to the throne, and convinces the Duke of Buckingham to help him secure power. Richard and Buckingham spread rumors about the legitimacy of Edward IV’s children, claiming they are bastards. They stage a public scene where Richard reluctantly accepts the crown after appearing to refuse it. Once crowned King Richard III, he orders the murder of the two young princes (Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York) in the Tower of London, though their deaths occur offstage.

Richard’s reign becomes increasingly tyrannical and unstable. The Duke of Buckingham eventually rebels against him and is captured and executed. Richard attempts to consolidate power by proposing to marry Elizabeth of York, his niece, but faces growing opposition. Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, lands in England with an army to claim the throne. The play culminates in the Battle of Bosworth Field, where Richard is haunted by the ghosts of all those he has murdered. Richmond defeats and kills Richard in battle, then marries Elizabeth of York to unite the warring houses of Lancaster and York, establishing the Tudor dynasty and bringing peace to England.