King Richard III Summary
William Shakespeare

Richard III by William Shakespeare Born in 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon, England, William Shakespeare was the son of middle-class parents. Although not all the particulars of Shakespeare’s educ... Read more

Biography Essay"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer,... Read more

Considered by critics, scholars, and the theater-going public the most important dramatist in the history of English literature, William Shakespeare occupies a unique position in the pantheon of great... Read more

William Shakespeare's reputation is based primarily on his plays. With the partial exception of the Sonnets (1609), quarried since the early nineteenth century for autobiographical secrets allegedly ... Read more

Ian Frederick Moulton, Arizona State University West In recent years, largely due to the work of feminist critics and queer theorists, the dynamics of gender in the early modern period have been sub... Read more

In the following essay, Cluck defines shame and its place in Western culture by comparing Shakespeare's character Antony with his character Richard III. Cluck remarks that Richard is so intense... Read more

In the essay below, Day examines Richard III's chosen and not always reliable professions as prologue, stage manager, and actor in the “morality-Vice manner” of the play. Richard ... Read more

In the following essay, Shupe psychoanalyzes the wooing scene between Richard and Anne, concluding that its outcome is realistic because Richard is a highly persuasive Machiavellian type and because A... Read more

In the following essay, Hammersmith examines a textual crux in Richard III: that is, whether Shakespeare wrote “sun” or “son” of York in the opening lines of the play and w... Read more

In the following essay, Mindle observes that Richard III is the most Machiavellian of all of Shakespeare's protagonists, noting that unlike characters such as Macbeth and Henry IV, Richard III ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Bushnell asserts that in his role as tyrant, Richard III discovers that lust and political ambition are interconnected, so that in order to exert power over people, he must a... Read more

In the following essay, Rackin examines the disempowerment that occurs to the female characters when Shakespeare transforms a history play into a tragedy as he does with Richard III. I Although the Fi... Read more

In the essay below, Lyons suggests that, like actual monarchs such as Elizabeth I, Shakespeare's Richard III and Richmond resort to elaborate symbolism and theatrical performances to manipulate... Read more

In the following essay, Neill examines the psychological complexity of Richard's character. Here the King is, in the first half of the tragedy, the mastermind of the Grand Mechanism, a demiurge... Read more

In the following essay, Berry explores the relationship Richard develops with the play's audience and argues that the bond that grows from this relationship contributes to the success of Richar... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1974, Garber examines the way the dream sequences in Richard III serve as metaphors for the play's larger action and analyzes the role of omens a... Read more

In the essay that follows, Brooks investigates the influence of Seneca's Troades on Shakespeare's depiction of the four women in Richard III. In Richard III, Shakespeare owed little to h... Read more

In the essay below, Mason challenges critics who suggest that the female characters in Richard III are only powerful as a group. Mason explores the power exerted by the women in the play, noting the w... Read more

In the following essay, Richmond analyzes the “massive” religious vocabulary of Richard III and reveals the ways in which the play explores contemporary religious tensions between Protes... Read more

In the following essay, Knights examines the structure and method of characterization of Richard III, considering the drama as more than simply a political morality play. To call Shakespeare's ... Read more

In the following analysis of Richard III informed by Lacanian and poststructuralist theory, Adair draws thematic links between Richard's monstrous physical and psychological deformities and the... Read more

In the following excerpted introduction, Lull probes the sources of Richard III and studies Shakespeare's depiction of history, women, the figure of Richard, and the play's theme of dete... Read more

In the following excerpt, actress Downie describes her interpretation of Queen Margaret for Adrian Noble's production of Richard III in 1988. Queen Margaret was the biggest Shakespearian role I... Read more

In the following essay, Andrews evaluates the means by which film representations of Richard III, performed by Laurence Olivier, Ron Cooke, and Ian McKellen, have facilitated a relationship with the v... Read more

In the following review of Richard III starring Kenneth Branagh at Sheffield's Crucible Theater, Young praises Branagh's technically flawless performance as Richard, but acknowledges tha... Read more

In the following essay, de Somogyi provides an overview of Richard III, tracing the play's performance and textual history as well as providing Richard's family tree. ‘the Beholde... Read more

In the following essay, Hassel asserts that Queen Elizabeth is smarter and less naive than some of her earlier critics have suggested, especially in her dealings with Richard. On this dialogue '... Read more

In the following review, Taylor praises director Tina Packer's 1999 Shakespeare and Co. production of Richard III as a “blessedly straightforward and vital telling of an endlessly bloody... Read more

In the following review, Morley positively assesses Barry Kyle's 2003 all-female production of Richard III at the Globe Theatre, noting that “[this Richard III asks whether the king is i... Read more

In the following essay, Plasse argues that Richard uses his malformed body as an excuse to behave wickedly. The opening scene of Richard III, unique among Shakespeare's plays in its call for th... Read more

In the following essay, Schiffer focuses on Richard III's final soliloquy (V.iii), spoken after he awakens from a sleep disturbed by the visitation of his victims' ghosts. From the persp... Read more

In the following essay, Sypher reads the second tetralogy in terms of the notion that history is a spurious charade that fades into insignificance when viewed against the measureless backdrop of time.... Read more

Richard III, by William Shakespeare, is a play based on the amount of power and decisiveness needed to become the king of England. The main character Richard of Gloucester is the brother of the curre... Read more

Forshadowing often creates suspense and irony when used correctly. In the play Richard III by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses many devices to foreshadow upcoming events for his characters. T... Read more

"The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror./ It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing./ It receives but does not keep."- Chuang Tzu. For the majority of this play, Richard the Third is the embodiment of ... Read more

Play writers Sophocles and Shakespeare have both produced pieces of writings that sustain enormous tragedy. Richard III and the Oedipus Cycle are just two examples of plays that demonstrate the eviden... Read more