scene on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth Field—the decisive military encounter that ends in Richmond’s triumph and Richard’s death—Shakespeare provides a glimpse of one further quality he associates with the tyrant: an absolute loneliness. With his henchmen Catesby and Ratcliffe, Richard can review battle plans and give orders, but he has no real closeness to them or to anyone else. He has long been aware that no one loves him and that no one will grieve his loss.
