The Duchess of York is the mother of Edward IV, Richard and Clarence. Her husband, Richard of York, was humiliated and murdered by Margaret in Shakespeare’s other play, Henry VI Part 3, prior to the events of Richard III. She spends a great deal of her time with her grandchildren – including Clarence’s son and daughter as well as the Duke of York. Like Margaret, the Duchess has the ability to look past Richard’s duplicitous façade and acts as a voice of reason when she calls him out for who he really is. She frequently expresses her disappointment with him and refers to his deformity numerous times during the course of the play. After Richard is crowned king and has the two princes murdered, the Duchess confronts her son in Act 4 Scene 4, telling him that she could’ve stopped “all the slaughters, wretch, that thou hast done” by strangling him when he was in her “accursed womb.” She describes how nasty he is, even from the day he was born, and curses him to die by “God’s just ordinance.” Therefore, it can be seen that Shakespeare uses the Duchess of York to emphasise to the audience just how vile Richard is by illustrating how even his own mother despises him.
