Lady Anne: The Woman Whose Grief Richard Turns Against Her

Lady Anne Neville enters Act 1 Scene 2 accompanying the funeral procession of Henry VI, whose son Edward of Westminster she was married to. Both her father-in-law and her husband were killed by the House of York. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, stopped the procession to talk to her.

The scene that follows is one of the most discussed in Shakespeare, and one of the most uncomfortable to watch. Richard interrupts her grief, deflects her fury, admits the murders, and attributes them to love of her. She spits at him. She holds a sword to his throat. She accepts his ring by the end. Productions that want to explain this psychologically generally find that grief, not attraction, is the key: she is given nothing to hold onto except the man directly in front of her.

She disappears after Act 2 and is reported dead in Act 4 Scene 2. Richard notes that he must find a new wife. He has her killed the way he disposes of all instruments he no longer needs: efficiently, and without a scene.