Buckingham: The Man Who Helps Richard to the Throne and Pays for It
First appears: Act 1, Scene 3
Buckingham is Richard's partner in the usurpation: the man who manages public opinion, argues Richard's case before the citizens, and orchestrates the scenes in which the crown appears to be offered rather than seized. He is shrewd, eloquent, and genuinely effective. For three acts he is the co-architect of everything.
His break with Richard comes over the princes in the Tower. Richard asks him to arrange the murder of the young Edward V and his brother. Buckingham hesitates ('I will resolve you herein presently') and the pause is enough. Richard turns cold immediately. Buckingham reads the shift correctly and flees.
He is captured and executed in Act 5 Scene 1, on All Souls' Day. His final speech acknowledges that Margaret's curse has found him. He asked for it to strike him if he ever proved untrue to Edward's children, and it did. The play gives him a moral clarity at the end that he conspicuously lacked while he was useful.
Key Scenes
Famous Quotes
“Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame.”
Buckingham — Act 5, Scene 1
“Had you not come upon your cue, my lord, William Lord Hastings had pronounced your part.”
Buckingham — Act 3, Scene 4
Themes
Other Characters in Richard III
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