SOURCE: Hugenberg, Sr., Lawrence W. and Mark J. Schaefermeyer. “Soliloquy as Self-Disclosure: The Soliloquies of Richard III.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 69, no. 2 (May 1983): 180-87.

In the following excerpt, Hugenberg and Schaefermeyer consider the soliloquies of Richard of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 3 (III.iii) and Richard III (I.i and I.iii) in terms of communication theory. They conclude that these monologues represent forthright speech that clearly reveals Richard's motivations, his goals, and his strategies.

In William Shakespeare's historical plays, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later to become Richard III, rationalizes his actions in relation to his image of himself. He reveals data about his character as early as 3 Henry VI, the play preceding Richard III.

Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so, Let hell make crook'd my mind to answer it. 

(3HVI V,vi,78f)

Richard's soliloquies are disclosures directed to the self as particular audience...