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Verbal Irony

Explanation and Analysis—Endure the Load:

Near the beginning of Act 4, Richard feigns reluctance to the Duke of Buckingham in accepting the crown, personifying "fortune" as a being who deposits burdens on unwitting folk. It's a scene of dramatic and verbal irony because—while the audience knows Richard's true intentions—his apparent unwillingness makes him seem like an ideal candidate for kingship:

Since you will buckle fortune on my back,
To bear her burden, whe’er I will or no,
I must have patience to endure the load;

In this passage, Richard makes it seem as if he is taking on a great burden for the sake of the people. This is dramatically ironic because he has been telling the audience he's plotting to obtain the crown throughout the play. Here, he pretends to be burdened by the crown. Saying that the responsibility of statehood is a heavy, unappealing burden implies that he is accepting it as a duty rather than out of ambition.

However, the audience knows that Richard has been manipulating everyone to obtain the crown for himself. By personifying "fortune" here, he puts himself at an even further remove from responsibility. If a powerful entity like "fortune" is forcing this "burden" on him, he is powerless to say no and must somehow find the "patience" to be king.

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Original

Romeo

(aside) She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art though Romeo?
Deny they father and refuse they name.
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Modern

Romeo

(to himself) She speaks. Speak again, bright angel! For tonight you are as glorious, there up above me, as a winged messenger of heaven who makes mortals fall onto their backs to gaze up with awestruck eyes as he strides across the lazy clouds and sails through the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Why must you be Romeo? Deny your father and give up your name. Or, if you won’t change your name, just swear your love to me and I’ll give up being a Capulet.

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