The Tragedy of Richard the Third

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Richard the Third. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965. Print. 8 November 2010.


Medium: play

Genre: Shakespeare, historical

Synopsis:
The final play of Shakespeare's first tetralogy, Richard III is estimated to have been written around 1591. It follows Richard of Gloucester as he strives to snatch the throne from his brothers and nephews. He does not hesitate to kill anyone who, consciously or not, gets in his way. The conclusion of the play coincides with the end of the War of the Roses.

Notes:
Richard is one of the most nefarious, enticing villains I've seen yet in Shakespeare. Despite his lack of sympathetic appeal, I can't help but be reminded of Milton's Satan in terms of his eloquence. Richard really knows how to speak--who else could persuade a widow to marry him over the corpse of the husband he'd recently murdered? Also, Ian McKellen plays a thought-provoking interpretation in Loncraine's 1995 adaptation. In some ways more vicious, McKellen also strikes me as more sympathetic due to the portrayal of his fraught relationship with his mother. Would be interesting to explore that relationship.