In Act I of Richard the third, Richard is shown as the Duke of Gloucester, he is a evil, manipulative, menacing person, who seeks to bring about distraught in the life of others, in his attempt to gain the throne for himself. He is a murderer and a villain and uses his treacherous ways and his deformity to manipulate his way upwards. As these characteristics are highlighted, they foreshadow what is to come in the following acts as Richard goes along his dangerous path to gain the throne.
In Act IV, it is evident that his evil ways have paid off, as he has succeeded and is crowned King and attains a wife for himself. He then proceeds to maintain his role as ruler of England and continues to kill whoever gets in his way of doing so.
Act IV also highlights the most important aspect of Richard's personality. Now that he has become King, he starts to fail. He is no longer the protagonist, but the antagonist. He lacks confidence and is now afraid to plot any of his schemes with anyone. He is unable to command the situations in which he is placed, and has an obvious decline in power. This is shown by the death of all his top lieutenants and the heirs to the throne. His enemies arise against him, in the hope of taking him down.
Act IV on a whole, basically highlights the fact that now that Richard has the throne, his reign is failing and being destroyed an he is now desperate to keep in power.
