# Queen Margaret — Richard III character guide

> Queen Margaret in Richard III by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Margaret, Queen Margaret of Anjou

**First appearance:** 0004-act-i-scene-iii

## Snapshot

The deposed Lancastrian queen who haunts the Yorkist court like a Fury, trading curses for the crown she lost and no one can make her relinquish.

## Who they are

Widow of Henry VI and mother of a murdered prince, Margaret lingers unwanted among the victors who killed her family, a living accusation no one can silence or safely expel. Her torrents of prophecy and malediction give the play its conscience and its dread, naming the doom that will find each Yorkist in turn. She matters because she alone refuses the amnesia of the new regime, and her curses set the moral clock ticking under every feast and council.

## In the story

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/richard_iii_se/chapters/act-i-scene-ii)

Mentioned by Anne as a witness to Richard's murder of Prince Edward.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/richard_iii_se/chapters/act-i-scene-iii)

Delivers a series of curses against the court, prophesying their downfalls.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/richard_iii_se/chapters/act-v-scene-i)

Her curse is recalled by Buckingham as having come true.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/richard_iii_se/characters/queen_margaret
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/richard_iii_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/richard_iii_se/characters