Literary Characters
OF THE BABY NAME RICHARD
Lady Anne is an important character in William Shakespeare’s historical play, Richard III, probably written around 1591. Anne is the beautiful young widow of Prince Edward, the son of the late King Henry VI. She knows that Richard is responsible for their deaths. She stands mourning at the grave of her father-in-law, and she listens to Richard ask her for her hand. And, after very little stalling, she accepts!!! How to explain this? Many scholars have tried ascribing it to gullibility, fear, ambition, and various other shortcomings, but we’re not buying. We think there’s just a very big piece of humanity missing from this dame. Well, if ever you doubted karma, look again. It doesn’t take the murderous Richard very long before he is looking at another woman and poisoning Anne to get her out of the way. So she joins Hubby and Daddy-in-Law, and we say she asked for it.
Richard III is the (in)famous last king of the House of York, who ruled for only two years, from 1483 to 1485, but whose fame is eternal. He was immortalized by Shakespeare in his play, Richard III, written about 1591, as the deformed, ambitious murderer of his young nephews, “the princes in the tower”, as well as other relatives and enemies. The bad rep he got from the Bard has stuck like glue, and there are societies devoted to debunking those stories. We aren’t here to settle the centuries old dispute; suffice it to say that the Richard III of the stage is completely fascinating…complex, bitter, chameleon-like and brilliant. He is a self-proclaimed villain who makes no bones about his intentions – power is to be his – but at the same time, he is an almost sympathetic character in the scope of his hunger and thirst for that power and in the seductive way in which he describes it for us. When he declares himself the inevitable product of never having been loved, in fact, of being maligned because of his physical shortcomings, we are almost ready to befriend him. Once power is his, though, he embraces it with malevolent glee, and reveals himself to be a true culprit. The denouement is welcomed, then, as Richard shows his true colors (according to Shakespeare), in his craven last words, forsaking all to the baser wish to live: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”
Richard Halley is a rather minor character in Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged , but a fairly important piece of the big picture. The book was her own avowed favorite of her fiction, and Richard Halley represents the lofty ideal of the utopian combination of art and creation and work, as expounded by the individual in a world grown increasingly dystopian through its enslavement to governmental socialism. Richard is the protagonist’s (Dagny Taggart) favorite composer. He has written four concerti, and just as he finally achieves astounding success, he disappears. Where is he, and is it possible this new piece of music is truly his Fifth Concerto? These questions are part of the many questions in the book. It is a mystery of sorts, a science fiction of sorts, and a paean to self-interest and creative individualism, which is embodied by Richard Halley, among others.
An unemployed single mother opens a prosperous business. A pennypincher overcomes his stingy habits. A widow uncovers a creative talent that evolves into a profession. These and other true stories, recounted by Richard Webster in Uriel, demonstrate the impact this powerful archangel has had on countless lives. Known for transforming misfortunes into blessings, Uriel can heal emotional trauma, enhance creativity, enhance prosperity, develop intuition, and bring tranquility. Whether you need spiritual enlightenment, creative inspiration, or prophetic insight, the practical techniques in this book-involving meditation, color, music, and crystals-can put you in touch with the Angel of Salvation.
