How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to the Norton edition.
Quote #7
Tut, I can counterfeit the deep tragedian;
Speak and look back, and pry on every side,
Tremble and start at wagging of a straw,
Intending deep suspicion: ghastly looks
Are at my service, like enforced smiles;
And both are ready in their offices,
At any time, to grace my stratagems. (3.5.1)
Here Buckingham brags that he can be just as good an actor as his pal Richard (he can "counterfeit the deep tragedian"). Basically, Buckingham is letting everyone know that politics involves a lot of acting. Keep reading...
Quote #8
Alas, why would you heap these cares on me?
I am unfit for state and majesty;
I do beseech you, take it not amiss;
I cannot nor I will not yield to you. (3.7.11)
Wow, Buckingham and Richard really are great actors. Here they stage a little scene to make it look like the "saintly" Richard doesn't actually want to be crowned king. (The even use the Bible as a prop to make it look like Richard is more interested in religion than kingship.) More than anything, the passage suggests that the game of politics is inherently theatrical. This is a theme Shakespeare revisits time and time again, most notably in Henry IV Part 1.
Quote #9
Thy Clarence he is dead that kill'd my Edward;
And the beholders of this tragic play,
The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,
Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves.
Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer (4.4.7)
Richard's not the only one who seems to be aware that he's an actor in a play. Here Margaret suggests that all of Richard's victims are "beholders of this tragic play." What's eerie about this is that everyone who knows what Richard is up to is powerless to do anything about it.