Clarence: The Brother Who Trusted the Wrong Man

Clarence appears in Act 1 Scene 1 being escorted to the Tower of London, having been imprisoned on a charge of treason. He believes his brother Richard is working for his release. Richard is the one who arranged his imprisonment.

His dream speech in Act 1 Scene 4 is among the most striking passages in the play: a vision of drowning, of crossing to the underworld, of the shades of men he helped to kill pressing claims against him. He wakes and tries to pray, and cannot. Then the murderers arrive.

His death (drowned in a butt of malmsey wine, according to the stage tradition and the historical record) comes before he can be rescued by the pardon Edward IV has issued. Richard makes sure the pardon arrives too late. Clarence is the first person Richard kills directly, and the killing establishes everything: that his charm is a weapon, that his apparent affection is performance, and that no one who trusts him is safe.