In efforts to "save western civilisation and bring culture to the unwashed masses", OldGrumpyGuy, according to his youtube username started a video series called Great Writers, beginning with F. Scott Fitzgerald. The video begins with a short biography of Fitzgerald, where his childhoood, onwards to adulthood is briefly explained. OldGrumpyGuy gives his feelings towards what is often said about Fitzgerald, he glorifies the writer and dismisses critics who compare his work to Ernest Hemingway. He feels that Hemingway is obessed with masculinity and must have something to hide so he does not care much for his work. He refers to Fitzgerald as the Mozart of American Literature because of the poetic flow of his work and the depth and range of emotions as well. he adds that Fitzgerald's work reflected his life with great humor and tragedy in both. He reads an excerpt of Fitzgerald first published novel, written when he was twenty-one "This Side of Paradise". The excerpt is taken from the beginning of the novel where Amerie Blaine, the central character is introduced along with his excentric mother and inaffectionate father. OldGrumpyGuy was evidently impressed by the excerpt, especially with knowing that Fitzgerald was only twenty-one when he wrote it, he add that after his first novel he went on to write even more exceptional novels, some of the best in American Lierature.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the best known American authors of the 1920s and 1930s and is closely linked with the sanguinity and immoderation of that era's "Jazz Age." Fitzgerald was born on the 24th of September, 1896, to parents Mollie and Edward Fitzgerald in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His first literary effort at the age of thirteen was a detective story and it was published in a school newspaper. When he was 16, he was expelled from St. Paul Academy for neglecting his studies. He attended Newman School, a prep school in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1911–1912 after having left two others. He later entered Princeton University in 1913 as a member of the Class of 1917. There he became friends with future critics and writers Edmund Wilson and John Peale Bishop and wrote for the ‘Princeton Triangle Club’ and the ‘Princeton Tiger’. This led to his submission of a novel to ‘Charles Scribner's Sons’, where the editor praised the writing but ultimately rejected the book. He was a member of the University Cottage Club, which still displays Fitzgerald's desk and writing materials in its library. An ill-fated student, Fitzgerald left Princeton to enlist in the US Army during World War I; however, the war ended shortly after Fitzgerald's enlistment.
While working in adverting and writing short stores, Fitzgerald feel in love for a young woman named Zelda Sayre. He proposed marriage to her but she was unconvinced that he would be able to support her so she broke off the engagement. Fitzgerald returned to his parents' house at 599 Summit Avenue, on Cathedral Hill, in St. Paul, to revise ‘The Romantic Egoist’ which was renamed ‘This Side of Paradise’, it was accepted by Scribner's in the fall of 1919. After which himself and Zelda resumed their engagement. The novel was published on March 26, 1920, and became one of the most popular books of the year. Fitzgerald and Zelda were married in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. Their only child, Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald, was born on October 26, 1921.
Fitzgerald accomplished great success in the 1920s, decade which proved great development. The Great Gatsby, considered his masterpiece, was published in 1925. Fitzgerald made several excursions to Europe, mostly Paris and the French Riviera, and became friends with many members of the American expatriate community in Paris, notably Ernest Hemingway. Fitzgerald’s friendship with Hemingway was quite vigorous, as many of Fitzgerald’s relationships would prove to be. As did most professional authors at the time, Fitzgerald supplemented his income by writing short stories for such magazines as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire, and sold his stories and novels to Hollywood studios. This “whoring”, as Fitzgerald and, subsequently, Hemingway called these sales, was a sore point in the authors’ friendship. Fitzgerald claimed that he would first write his stories in an authentic manner but then put in “twists that made them into saleable magazine stories.”
Although Fitzgerald's passion lay in writing novels, only his first novel sold well enough to support the opulent lifestyle that he and Zelda adopted as New York celebrities. Because of this lifestyle, as well as the bills from Zelda's medical care when they came, Fitzgerald was constantly in financial trouble and often required loans from his literary agent, Harold Ober, and his editor at Scribner's, Maxwell Perkins. When Ober decided not to continue advancing money to Fitzgerald, the author severed ties with his longtime friend and agent. Fitzgerald offered a good-hearted and apologetic tribute to this support in the late short story "Financing Finnegan".
In the late 1920s, Fitzgerald began working on his fourth novel but was sidetracked by financial difficulties that necessitated his writing commercial short stories, and by the schizophrenia that struck Zelda in 1930. Her emotional health remained fragile for the rest of her life. In 1932, she was hospitalized in Baltimore, Maryland. He husband rented the "La Paix" estate in the suburb of Towson, Maryland to work on his latest book which was about the rise and fall of Dick Diver, a promising young psychiatrist who falls in love and marries Nicole Warren, one of his patients. The book went through many versions, the first of which was to be a story of matricide. Some critics have seen the book as a thinly-veiled autobiographical novel recounting Fitzgerald's problems with his wife, the corrosive effects of wealth and a decadent lifestyle, his own egoism and self-confidence, and his continuing alcoholism. Indeed, Fitzgerald was extremely protective of his ‘material’. When Zelda wrote and sent to Scribner's her own fictional version of their lives in Europe, “Save Me the Waltz”, Fitzgerald was angry and was able to make some changes prior to the novel's publication, and convince her doctors to keep her from writing any more about what he called his ‘material,’ which included their relationship. His book was finally published in 1934 as “Tender Is the Night”. Critics who had waited nine years for the follow-up to “The Great Gatsby” had mixed opinions about the novel. Most were thrown off by its three-part structure and many felt that Fitzgerald had not lived up to their expectations. The novel did not sell well upon publication, but like the earlier “the Great Gatsby”, the book's reputation has since risen significantly. In the 1930s, Fitzgerald and Zelda became estranged, she continued living in mental institutions on the East Coast, while he lived with his lover Sheilah Graham, the gossip columnist, in Hollywood.
Fitzgerald had been an alcoholic since his college days, and but it took a whole other toll in the 1920s for his extraordinarily heavy drinking, leaving him in poor health by the late 1930s. According to Zelda's biographer, Nancy Milford, Fitzgerald claimed that he had contracted tuberculosis, but Milford dismisses that it was a ploy to cover his drinking problems. However, Fitzgerald scholar Matthew J. Bruccoli contends that Fitzgerald did in fact have recurring tuberculosis and Nancy Milford reports that Fitzgerald biographer Arthur Mizener said that he suffered a mild attack of tuberculosis in 1919, and in 1929 he had “what proved to be a tubercular hemorrhage”. Fitzgerald suffered two heart attacks in late 1940. After the first, he was ordered by his doctor to avoid strenuous exertion. He moved in with Sheilah Graham, who lived in Hollywood on North Hayworth Ave. On the night of December 20, 1940, Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham attended the premiere of ‘This Thing Called Love’. As he and Sheilah were leaving the theater, Fitzgerald experienced a dizzy spell and had trouble leaving the theater. He became upset set that bystanders may have thought he was drunk.
According to Wendy Fairey, author of "The Recollection of Sheilah Graham," the following day, as Fitzgerald ate a candy bar and made notes in his newly arrived Princeton Alumni Weekly, Ms. Graham saw him jump from his armchair, grab the mantelpiece, gasp, and fall to the floor. She ran to the manager of the building, Harry Culver, founder of Culver City. Upon entering the apartment and assisting Fitzgerald, he pronounced him dead. Fitzgerald had died of a massive heart attack. His body was moved to the Pierce Brothers Mortuary. His body was shipped to Baltimore, Maryland, where his funeral was attended by twenty or thirty people in Bethesda, among the attendants were his only child, and his editor, Maxwell Perkins. Fitzgerald was originally buried in Rockville Union Cemetery. Zelda died in 1948, in a fire at the Highland Mental Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald Lanahan Smith worked to overturn the Archdiocese of Baltimore's ruling that Fitzgerald died a non-practicing Catholic, so that he could be buried at the Roman Catholic Saint Mary's Cemetery where his father's family was interred. Both Scott's and Zelda's remains were moved to the family plot in Saint Mary's Cemetery, in Rockville, Maryland, in 1975.
Fitzgerald died before he could complete ‘The Love of the Last Tycoon’. His manuscript, which included extensive notes for the unwritten part of the novel's story, was edited by his friend, the literary critic Edmund Wilson, and published in 1941 as ‘The Last Tycoon’. In 1994 the book was reissued under the original title ‘The Love of the Last Tycoon’, which is now agreed to have been Fitzgerald’s preferred title. He was a true talent that was so clever in his literary skills which he used well to develop and produce wonderful novels and short stories, his legacy will surely live on.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Relationship between Gloster and Lady Anne
In the play Richard III by William Shakespeare many relationships are explored throughout the play, most of which involve Richard Gloster. In Act One: Scene Two, the audience is introduced to the relationship between Gloster and Lady Anne, widow to Edward, Prince of Wales.
Act One: Scene two begins at the funeral of Henry VI. Gloster enters the scene and stops the procession of the coffin. This infuriates Lady Anne; she states “What black magician conjures up this fiend...” (Act 1, Scene 2: Line 207) referring to Richard as a grotesque creature created by a witch or warlock. She continues by calling him the devil in its true form and he replies with a compliment: “Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst.” (Act 1, Scene 2: Line 223) Although she is referring to him as a demon he still sees her as a sweet angel which shows contrast between the attitudes they have towards each other. She states that he is an evil man who commits unforgivable crimes while he calls her a divine perfection of a woman. She continues to express her hate and disgust towards him and he retaliates by expressing his undying love for her. Lady Anne knows he has killed her husband but he refuses to admit the truth. He eventually admits he indeed did kill her husband and father and begs her to take his life if she doesn’t forgive him for his treason against her. He admittedly said he killed her husband out of jealousy, he wanted Anne for himself. Although she tries to take his life she cannot find it in her heart to murder him although she feels he deserves to be dead.
By the end of the scene Gloster persuades Lady Anne to marry him which is a shocker to the audience. He finds it hard to fathom that Lady Anne accepted his proposal having know the truth to his murdering her husband and father. He is very aware of his grotesque looks but he is determined to gain power because of it. He makes it clear that he won’t have Lady Anne as his wife for long and he will soon gain the throne.
Act One: Scene two begins at the funeral of Henry VI. Gloster enters the scene and stops the procession of the coffin. This infuriates Lady Anne; she states “What black magician conjures up this fiend...” (Act 1, Scene 2: Line 207) referring to Richard as a grotesque creature created by a witch or warlock. She continues by calling him the devil in its true form and he replies with a compliment: “Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst.” (Act 1, Scene 2: Line 223) Although she is referring to him as a demon he still sees her as a sweet angel which shows contrast between the attitudes they have towards each other. She states that he is an evil man who commits unforgivable crimes while he calls her a divine perfection of a woman. She continues to express her hate and disgust towards him and he retaliates by expressing his undying love for her. Lady Anne knows he has killed her husband but he refuses to admit the truth. He eventually admits he indeed did kill her husband and father and begs her to take his life if she doesn’t forgive him for his treason against her. He admittedly said he killed her husband out of jealousy, he wanted Anne for himself. Although she tries to take his life she cannot find it in her heart to murder him although she feels he deserves to be dead.
By the end of the scene Gloster persuades Lady Anne to marry him which is a shocker to the audience. He finds it hard to fathom that Lady Anne accepted his proposal having know the truth to his murdering her husband and father. He is very aware of his grotesque looks but he is determined to gain power because of it. He makes it clear that he won’t have Lady Anne as his wife for long and he will soon gain the throne.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Sililoquy made by Richard III
In Act One: Scene Two, after Gloster’s proposal to Lady Anne was accepted he is left alone on stage. He delivers a striking soliloquy where he describes his features and his future plans for the rest of the play. It is of extreme importance and holds a great deal of significance for setting the stage of the play.
The significance of this speech is very important to the trepidation of the play. Gloster’s admiration for Lady Anne has been living in his heart for a long while. So much so that in anger and jealousy he kills her husband Edward, Prince of Wales. In the beginning of Act One: Scene two Lady Anne degrades Gloster with multiple insults but yet a=by the end of this scene she is engaged to be his wife. He finds it hard to fathom the fact that Elizabeth has accepted his proposal, it seems unlikely to him for such a beautiful woman to want to marry a man with his features. He describes himself: “But the plain devil and dissembling looks and yet to win her...” He struggles with idea that Lady Anne has already forgotten her love for her husband who Gloster believes was a much better man than he is. He describes Edward as being “young, valiant, wise and no doubt, right royal.” He goes as far to say Edward was someone who the world didn’t even deserve. He explains that Edward was a sweet and lovely gentleman so he cannot believe Lady Anne accepting his proposal nearly three months after Edward’s death. This shows the audience how low his self esteem was and how his looks make him feel undeserving of love by any woman. It is obvious he feels like an outcast compared to everyone else.
He continues by explaining his plot to make himself worthy of Lady Anne’s hand in marriage. He expands on his plan to gain the throne. He predicts that his marriage with Anne won’t be for long and he would probably have her killed along with Clarence. Gloster feels that because he is deformed, he cannot be loved; because he cannot be loved, he must be a villain; because he must be a villain, he will strive for the throne. His deformity is merely an excuse to play the antagonist, a role which he seems to enjoy. Once he has power his deformed looks won’t matter.
The significance of this speech is very important to the trepidation of the play. Gloster’s admiration for Lady Anne has been living in his heart for a long while. So much so that in anger and jealousy he kills her husband Edward, Prince of Wales. In the beginning of Act One: Scene two Lady Anne degrades Gloster with multiple insults but yet a=by the end of this scene she is engaged to be his wife. He finds it hard to fathom the fact that Elizabeth has accepted his proposal, it seems unlikely to him for such a beautiful woman to want to marry a man with his features. He describes himself: “But the plain devil and dissembling looks and yet to win her...” He struggles with idea that Lady Anne has already forgotten her love for her husband who Gloster believes was a much better man than he is. He describes Edward as being “young, valiant, wise and no doubt, right royal.” He goes as far to say Edward was someone who the world didn’t even deserve. He explains that Edward was a sweet and lovely gentleman so he cannot believe Lady Anne accepting his proposal nearly three months after Edward’s death. This shows the audience how low his self esteem was and how his looks make him feel undeserving of love by any woman. It is obvious he feels like an outcast compared to everyone else.
He continues by explaining his plot to make himself worthy of Lady Anne’s hand in marriage. He expands on his plan to gain the throne. He predicts that his marriage with Anne won’t be for long and he would probably have her killed along with Clarence. Gloster feels that because he is deformed, he cannot be loved; because he cannot be loved, he must be a villain; because he must be a villain, he will strive for the throne. His deformity is merely an excuse to play the antagonist, a role which he seems to enjoy. Once he has power his deformed looks won’t matter.
Summary of Act One of Richard III
Act One
Act One is the introduction of the characters, the plot and the different conflicts that will develop throughout the play.
Scene One
In the first scene the audience is introduced to Richard Gloster and the conflicts which will be dealt with throughout the play. Gloster gives a short speech detailing his plot against his brother Clarence, who comes before him as heir to the throne of England. Richard has just succeeded in having Clarence arrested and it as a prisoner that Clarence walks onto the stage, guarded by Brackenbury. Clarence has been arrested because King Edward, who believes in a lot of prophecies and omens, was told that a person with a name starting with the letter "G" would cause his family to lose the throne. Since Clarence's full name is George, Duke of Clarence, he was considered to be the primary suspect. Gloster states his belief that his could be the result of women plotting against Clarence, most likely Queen Elizabeth and Mrs. Shore. Brackenbury takes Clarence into the Tower of London. Gloster promises that he will soon remove Clarence permanently and thus clear the path to the throne for himself. Lord Hastings, also known as Lord Chamberlain, emerges from the Tower, having just been freed. Lord Hastings tells Richard that King Edward IV is sickly and ailing, and cannot hope to live much longer. After he departs, Richard remarks that he will first have Edward kill Clarence. This will put Richard into a position where upon Edward's death he can assume the throne. He also plots to marry Lady Anne Neville, who is the widow of Edward, Prince of Wales and the daughter-in-law of Henry VI, whom Richard just killed.
Scene Two
Lady Anne enters the scene accompanied by pall bearers who are carrying an open coffin with King Henry VI in it. She asks the men to stop, during which time she laments the death of the king. Lady Anne then curses any future children which Gloster might have, and prays that after Gloster's death his future wife will know even more grief than Lady Anne currently feels. Gloster enters and is immediately Lady Anne curses him for his role in the death of her husband. He tries to woo her by telling how lovely he thinks she is, but she scorns him after each attempt. He finally tells her that he killed her husband so that he alone could love her. He then bends down on his knees and tells her to kill him if she cannot forgive him. She attempts to kill him but find it in herself that she cannot. He proposes marriage to her, succeeding in making Lady Anne wear his ring. He tells her to go wait for him in one of his London residences while he mourns the death of Henry VI. Lady Anne leaves after saying farewell to Gloster, who delivers a soliloquy in which he expresses surprise about the fact that she seems to like his looks.
Scene Three
Queen Elizabeth enters the scene with Lord Rivers and Lord Gray. They begin to discuss the fact that King Edward is ill. Queen Elizabeth is fearful about her future if he should die. She remarks that Gloster becomes her son's Protector if Edward passes away. This worries her because he does not like her or her companions. The Duke of Buckingham and Lord Stanley arrive, they have just been to see the King, and they inform Queen Elizabeth that he is looking well. Buckingham informs her that the King would like to meet with her brothers and Gloster in order to get them to make peace. Gloster and Lord Hastings enter the room, with Gloster complaining angrily about the lies which "they" tell the King. When asked who "they" are, he implicates the queen's brother, Lord Rivers, and her two sons. He then blames them for the recent imprisonment of Lord Hastings, and for the current jailing of his brother Clarence. Queen Elizabeth is outraged at these accusations, and threatens to tell the King.
Queen Margaret arrives; she is the widow of Henry VI and the mother of Edward whom Richard killed. She speaks directly to the audience, without the other characters hearing her, where she explains that Queen Elizabeth has her to thank for the throne, and calls Gloster a devil for the murders he has committed. Gloster defends himself strongly, pointing out his fierce loyalty to his brother Edward. He then points out the fact that the Queen and her brother fought against his brother in the war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, to which he belongs. Queen Margaret, fed up with the arguments and accusations, steps forward and addresses them all. She plans to tell them once again about how Gloster killed her son Edward, but all of the gathered characters attack her for having killed Rutland. This refers to a previous play in which Margaret crowns the Duke of York with a paper crown and waves a handkerchief dipped in his son Rutland's blood in front of his eyes. She tells them that because her Edward died, so too must the current Edward, Prince of Wales meet his death.
The entire company is then summoned into King Edward's chambers. Gloster remains behind and meets with two murderers whom he sends to kill Clarence. A revealing quote is when Richard says, "And thus I clothe my naked villainy with odd old ends, stolen forth of Holy Writ," meaning he disguises his crimes with Christian behavior.
Scene Four
Clarence and Brackenbury enter the scene where Clarence has had a terrible nightmare in which he breaks free of the Tower and attempts to cross to Burgundy accompanied by his brother Gloster. While on the ship, Gloster stumbles. When Clarence tries to help support him, he is flung into the ocean by Gloster, where he slowly drowns. Clarence falls asleep with Brackenbury sitting next to him for protection. The two murderers sent by Richard arrive and hand Brackenbury their commission. He acknowledges the paper which says to hand his prisoner over to the two men. One of the murderers has a sudden attack of conscience. He is able to overcome this by remembering the large reward which Richard is paying him. The second murderer tells his companion to drive the devil out of his mind, since the devil is only confusing him. Clarence wakes up and asks for a cup of wine. The murders inform him that Clarence that he will die. He pleads to their sense of Christianity, at which they list his many sins, most notably the killing of Henry VI's son Edward. Clarence then begs the men to talk to Gloster, whom he promises will reward them handsomely. They inform him that Gloster is the man who sent them, a fact that Clarence cannot believe. He seems about to overcome them with his persuasive words when the first murderer stabs and kills him. The second murderer refuses to participate, and even declines to receive his part of the reward.
Act One is the introduction of the characters, the plot and the different conflicts that will develop throughout the play.
Scene One
In the first scene the audience is introduced to Richard Gloster and the conflicts which will be dealt with throughout the play. Gloster gives a short speech detailing his plot against his brother Clarence, who comes before him as heir to the throne of England. Richard has just succeeded in having Clarence arrested and it as a prisoner that Clarence walks onto the stage, guarded by Brackenbury. Clarence has been arrested because King Edward, who believes in a lot of prophecies and omens, was told that a person with a name starting with the letter "G" would cause his family to lose the throne. Since Clarence's full name is George, Duke of Clarence, he was considered to be the primary suspect. Gloster states his belief that his could be the result of women plotting against Clarence, most likely Queen Elizabeth and Mrs. Shore. Brackenbury takes Clarence into the Tower of London. Gloster promises that he will soon remove Clarence permanently and thus clear the path to the throne for himself. Lord Hastings, also known as Lord Chamberlain, emerges from the Tower, having just been freed. Lord Hastings tells Richard that King Edward IV is sickly and ailing, and cannot hope to live much longer. After he departs, Richard remarks that he will first have Edward kill Clarence. This will put Richard into a position where upon Edward's death he can assume the throne. He also plots to marry Lady Anne Neville, who is the widow of Edward, Prince of Wales and the daughter-in-law of Henry VI, whom Richard just killed.
Scene Two
Lady Anne enters the scene accompanied by pall bearers who are carrying an open coffin with King Henry VI in it. She asks the men to stop, during which time she laments the death of the king. Lady Anne then curses any future children which Gloster might have, and prays that after Gloster's death his future wife will know even more grief than Lady Anne currently feels. Gloster enters and is immediately Lady Anne curses him for his role in the death of her husband. He tries to woo her by telling how lovely he thinks she is, but she scorns him after each attempt. He finally tells her that he killed her husband so that he alone could love her. He then bends down on his knees and tells her to kill him if she cannot forgive him. She attempts to kill him but find it in herself that she cannot. He proposes marriage to her, succeeding in making Lady Anne wear his ring. He tells her to go wait for him in one of his London residences while he mourns the death of Henry VI. Lady Anne leaves after saying farewell to Gloster, who delivers a soliloquy in which he expresses surprise about the fact that she seems to like his looks.
Scene Three
Queen Elizabeth enters the scene with Lord Rivers and Lord Gray. They begin to discuss the fact that King Edward is ill. Queen Elizabeth is fearful about her future if he should die. She remarks that Gloster becomes her son's Protector if Edward passes away. This worries her because he does not like her or her companions. The Duke of Buckingham and Lord Stanley arrive, they have just been to see the King, and they inform Queen Elizabeth that he is looking well. Buckingham informs her that the King would like to meet with her brothers and Gloster in order to get them to make peace. Gloster and Lord Hastings enter the room, with Gloster complaining angrily about the lies which "they" tell the King. When asked who "they" are, he implicates the queen's brother, Lord Rivers, and her two sons. He then blames them for the recent imprisonment of Lord Hastings, and for the current jailing of his brother Clarence. Queen Elizabeth is outraged at these accusations, and threatens to tell the King.
Queen Margaret arrives; she is the widow of Henry VI and the mother of Edward whom Richard killed. She speaks directly to the audience, without the other characters hearing her, where she explains that Queen Elizabeth has her to thank for the throne, and calls Gloster a devil for the murders he has committed. Gloster defends himself strongly, pointing out his fierce loyalty to his brother Edward. He then points out the fact that the Queen and her brother fought against his brother in the war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, to which he belongs. Queen Margaret, fed up with the arguments and accusations, steps forward and addresses them all. She plans to tell them once again about how Gloster killed her son Edward, but all of the gathered characters attack her for having killed Rutland. This refers to a previous play in which Margaret crowns the Duke of York with a paper crown and waves a handkerchief dipped in his son Rutland's blood in front of his eyes. She tells them that because her Edward died, so too must the current Edward, Prince of Wales meet his death.
The entire company is then summoned into King Edward's chambers. Gloster remains behind and meets with two murderers whom he sends to kill Clarence. A revealing quote is when Richard says, "And thus I clothe my naked villainy with odd old ends, stolen forth of Holy Writ," meaning he disguises his crimes with Christian behavior.
Scene Four
Clarence and Brackenbury enter the scene where Clarence has had a terrible nightmare in which he breaks free of the Tower and attempts to cross to Burgundy accompanied by his brother Gloster. While on the ship, Gloster stumbles. When Clarence tries to help support him, he is flung into the ocean by Gloster, where he slowly drowns. Clarence falls asleep with Brackenbury sitting next to him for protection. The two murderers sent by Richard arrive and hand Brackenbury their commission. He acknowledges the paper which says to hand his prisoner over to the two men. One of the murderers has a sudden attack of conscience. He is able to overcome this by remembering the large reward which Richard is paying him. The second murderer tells his companion to drive the devil out of his mind, since the devil is only confusing him. Clarence wakes up and asks for a cup of wine. The murders inform him that Clarence that he will die. He pleads to their sense of Christianity, at which they list his many sins, most notably the killing of Henry VI's son Edward. Clarence then begs the men to talk to Gloster, whom he promises will reward them handsomely. They inform him that Gloster is the man who sent them, a fact that Clarence cannot believe. He seems about to overcome them with his persuasive words when the first murderer stabs and kills him. The second murderer refuses to participate, and even declines to receive his part of the reward.
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