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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Inductions Dangerous :
In Act 1, Scene 1, Richard lays the groundwork for his sinister plot for the throne, foreshadowing his machinations through a soliloquy:
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the King
In deadly hate, the one against the other; [...]
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Act 4, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Worm of Conscience :
Queen Margaret, filled with bitterness and sorrow, publicly curses Richard and those around him who support him. Her cursing, which centers on the metaphor of a biting parasite, is loaded with foreshadowing for Richard’s incoming troubles. Margaret tells Richard that she hopes
Unlock with LitCharts A+The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul.
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Act 5, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Have Mercy, Jesu!:
Just before the Battle of Bosworth Field comes a powerful scene where Richard experiences a prophetic nightmare. The words he utters when he wakes are both situationally ironic and dense with foreshadowing:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Richard starteth up out of a dream.
RICHARD: Give me another horse! Bind up my wounds! Have mercy, Jesu!—
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Explanation and Analysis—Fairest-Boding Dreams:
Richmond speaks to one of his lords the night before the Battle of Bosworth Field, describing the quality of sleep and dreams he had:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A LORD:
How have you slept, my lord?
RICHMOND:
The sweetest sleep and fairest-boding dreams
That ever entered in a drowsy head
Have I since your departure had, my lords [...]
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