RICHARD III FILMIC IMAGES

 

HAMLET'S TOYS OF DESPERATION

 In Act 1, Scene 4 of Hamlet, Horatio issues a haunting warning to the prince as they stand watch on the battlements, tracking the ghost of Hamlet’s father. The lines are both vivid and foreboding: “What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, / Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff / That beetles o'er his base into the sea, / And there assume some other horrible form, / Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason / And draw you into madness? Think of it: / The very place puts toys of desperation, / Without more motive, into every brain / That looks so many fathoms to the sea / And hears it roar beneath.” At the heart of this passage lies the evocative phrase “toys of desperation,” a poetic gem that encapsulates the psychological peril Hamlet faces—and one that reverberates throughout the play.

The phrase itself is suggestive and beautiful, a delicate yet ominous pairing of words that pulls the mind into a spiraling descent alongside Hamlet. “Toys” evokes something trivial or fleeting—playthings, whims—yet when tethered to “desperation,” it transforms into a sinister force: impulsive, reckless thoughts born of a moment’s terror or despair. Horatio conjures a vivid scene: a cliff jutting over a roaring sea, its dizzying drop inviting a surrender to chaos. The “flood” and the “dreadful summit” loom as twin abysses, physical and mental, threatening to strip away “sovereignty of reason”—that fragile mastery over one’s mind—and plunge the beholder into madness. The language paints an abyss you can almost see and hear: the fathomless depths, the water’s relentless crash below. It’s a verbal seduction into Hamlet’s own teetering psyche, where reason hangs by a thread.

What makes “toys of desperation” so compelling is its ambiguity and universality. Horatio isn’t warning of a specific act—like suicide, though the cliff suggests it—but of the raw, unbidden impulses that such a place inspires. The “very place” itself—the stark, perilous edge—plants these notions in “every brain,” no deeper motive required. It’s as if the landscape becomes an actor, whispering dark possibilities to anyone who dares to peer over the brink. In this moment, Hamlet stands at a literal and metaphorical precipice, the ghost’s appearance already tugging him toward obsession and doubt. The phrase captures that tipping point where rationality falters, and the mind flirts with its own unraveling.

This idea isn’t confined to Act 1, Scene 4—it echoes across Hamlet, threading through the play’s many moments of existential strain. Consider Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1, where he weighs the merits of life against the unknown of death: “The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn / No traveller returns, puzzles the will.” Here, too, the abyss beckons, planting “toys of desperation” as he ponders ending his suffering. Or take Ophelia’s descent into madness in Act 4, Scene 5—her songs and scattered thoughts could be read as the mind’s surrender to those same fleeting, desperate whims, triggered by grief’s overwhelming roar. Even Claudius, in Act 3, Scene 3, wrestling with guilt as he prays, might feel the pull of such “toys,” his paranoia and fear of retribution teetering on the edge of reason’s collapse.

The phrase’s power lies in its adaptability. In Horatio’s warning, it’s tied to the cliff’s visceral pull, but it could just as easily apply to the psychological cliffs Hamlet navigates: the betrayal of his mother, the murder of his father, the weight of revenge. Each revelation or choice dangles him over a new drop, the “roar beneath” growing louder—whether it’s the ghost’s call to action or his own spiraling indecision. The “toys” are the half-formed urges to act, to flee, to destroy, stirred by these moments of crisis, needing no rational anchor to take root.

Shakespeare’s choice of words here is masterful, blending beauty with dread. “Toys of desperation” doesn’t just describe Hamlet’s state—it invites us into it, letting us feel the vertigo of his soul. It’s a phrase that lingers, suggesting that madness isn’t always a grand unraveling but can sneak in through fleeting, perilous thoughts, sparked by the places—literal or figurative—we find ourselves in. Across Hamlet, it serves as a quiet refrain, a reminder that every character peering into their own fathomless sea risks being drawn under by the same seductive, destructive whispers

MODERN PARALLELS FOR RICHARD III

Two scenes—one from a movie, one from history—shed light on the twisted spirit of Shakespeare’s Richard III, even if they’re not direct adaptations. They vibe with the same dark energy and unlock something about the play’s psyche.

First up: a wild moment from Wild at Heart. Willem Dafoe barges into Laura Dern’s hotel room and kicks off a freaky seduction. He starts by announcing he needs to piss, then cracks a crude, out-of-left-field joke about doing it on her head—pure shock value, Richard-style. After mocking her obvious unease, he pushes and prods until Dern, with Dafoe practically in her face, mutters, “Fuck me.” He just laughs, brushes it off with a “maybe later,” and says he’s too busy. It’s vulgar, it’s cruel, and it mirrors how Richard woos Lady Anne. Playing Anne as a masochistic nympho hooked on his edge makes the seduction click psychologically.

The second parallel comes from history, via Blood and Splendor. It’s a chilling Stalin story: at a meeting with his top brass, he sentences a Jewish man to death. The guy collapses, sobbing and pleading. That night at dinner, one of Stalin’s cronies mimics the begging for laughs—and Stalin loses it, cracking up hysterically. This fits Richard’s vibe when he meets James Tyrell to hear about the princes’ murder. He’s jittery at first, then relieved once the deed’s done. In the play, he tells Tyrell to swing by after supper with the details. Tweak the scene a bit—Tyrell recounting the killings as the camera pulls back—and you’ve got Richard laughing like Stalin, reveling in the grim punchline.

Both moments, one cinematic, one historical, tap into the same ruthless, unhinged core that drives Richard III. They’re not copies, but they get him.

The masochist psychology of Lady Anne

To analyze Lady Anne's psychology in Richard III, we’ll focus on her portrayal in Shakespeare’s text, particularly in Act 1, Scene 2, where Richard woos her over her husband’s corpse—an audacious move that reveals much about her inner workings. This analysis will adopt a direct, psychological lens, informed by her dialogue and actions, while steering clear of speculative overreach beyond the play itself.

Lady Anne begins the scene steeped in grief and rage. She’s mourning her husband, Prince Edward, and father-in-law, King Henry VI—both killed by Richard’s hand or command. Her opening lines drip with anguish: “Set down, set down your honourable load, / If honour may be shrouded in a hearse,” she instructs the bearers of Henry’s coffin, cursing Richard as a “dreadful minister of hell.” Her emotional state is raw—sorrow fuels her venom, and she’s hyper-focused on Richard as the source of her pain. Psychologically, this suggests a woman anchored by loss, her identity temporarily consumed by widowhood and vengeance.

Yet, when Richard enters, her resolve cracks under his relentless manipulation. He admits to the murders outright, but frames them as acts of love for her: “Your beauty was the cause of that effect.” It’s a bold gambit—flattery laced with guilt-tripping—and Anne’s reaction is telling. She spits back insults (“Villain, thou know’st nor law of God nor man”), but doesn’t leave. She engages, arguing with him, even as he kneels and offers his sword, daring her to kill him. This hesitation hints at a conflicted psyche: part of her craves justice, but another part is paralyzed—perhaps by shock, fear, or something deeper.

As the scene unfolds, Richard’s persistence wears her down. He pivots from self-abasement to seduction, claiming her beauty could “exorcise” his devilish nature. Anne’s shift is gradual but stark: she moves from “I would I knew thy heart” (doubt) to accepting his ring by scene’s end. What’s driving this? Psychologically, Anne seems caught in a web of masochism and dependency. Her grief has left her vulnerable, and Richard’s mix of dominance and vulnerability—his willingness to debase himself—taps into an unacknowledged need. She’s not just swayed by his words; she’s drawn to his audacity, his ability to invert her hatred into something resembling power over him.

This aligns with a masochistic streak: Anne might find a twisted comfort in submitting to the man who destroyed her world. Her line, “With all my heart—and much it joys me too,” when she takes the ring, suggests a flicker of thrill beneath her surrender. It’s not pure lust—her attraction feels more like a trauma response, a way to reclaim agency by aligning with her tormentor. At the same time, her quick capitulation points to low self-worth; she’s been so battered by loss that Richard’s attention, however perverse, fills a void.

Her psychology also reflects a kind of cognitive dissonance. She knows Richard’s a monster—she calls him a “hedgehog” and “toad”—yet she lets him rewrite her narrative. This could stem from exhaustion: emotionally drained, she lacks the strength to resist his psychological siege. Or it might hint at a latent fascination with his ruthlessness, a mirror to her own suppressed anger. Either way, her arc in this scene reveals a woman fractured by grief, susceptible to manipulation, and drawn—against her better instincts—to the very force that shattered her life.

In short, Lady Anne’s psychology blends mourning, masochism, and fragility. She’s a grieving widow ensnared by Richard’s cunning, her surrender less about love and more about a desperate, conflicted need for meaning in a world he’s upended.