Act V - Act V, Scene 4
SCENE IV. Another part of the Field.
[Alarum; excursions. Enter NORFOLK and forces; to him CATESBY.]
CATESBY.
Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!
The king enacts more wonders than a man,
Daring an opposite to every danger:
His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death.
Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!
[Alarum. Enter KING RICHARD.]
KING RICHARD.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
CATESBY.
Withdraw, my lord! I'll help you to a horse.
KING RICHARD.
Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die:
I think there be six Richmonds in the field:
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.--
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
[Exeunt.]
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— Sarah, Owl Eyes Staff
The arrogant and pathetic hunchbacked King Richard III refuses to withdraw, even though his horse has died. Even during Shakespeare's lifetime, the line "my kingdom for a horse!" was parodied for its melodrama. For example, satirist John Marston (a contemporary of Shakespeare) frequently imitated the line: "A boat, a boat, a boat, a full hundred marks for a boat!"