Richard III by William Shakespeare

Richard IIILast in a tetralogy of plays that includes Henry VI, parts 1,2 and 3 and Richard III (the “Hollow Crown”).

The tetralogy portrays the struggle for power among the Plantagenet Houses of Lancaster and York

Written c. 1591 – one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays.

Chronicle and tragedy.

Supports the “Tudor Myth” of history.

One of Shakespeare’s most performed plays.

The “Tudor Myth” of HistoryPresents the period of the 15th century,

including the Wars of the Roses, in England as a dark age of anarchy and bloodshed.

Promotes the Tudor period of the 16th century as a golden age of peace, law, order, and prosperity.

One of the founders of the tradition was Sir Thomas More, who wrote The History of King Richard III (1513).

Richard III is presented as a deformed hunchback and murderer, overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Bolingbroke became the first Tudor king: Henry VII

LaurenceOlivier

Ian Mckellen

Anthony Sher

Ron CookKevinSpacey

Kenneth Branagh