First Folio
Richard IIIby William Shakespearedirected by Michael KahnJanuary 16—March 18, 2007
Teacher Curriculum Guide
Table of Contents Page Number
A Brief History of the Audience…………………….1
About the PlaywrightOn William Shakespeare…………………………………3Elizabethan England……………………………………….4Shakespeare’s Works……………………………………….5Shakespeare’s Verse and Prose……………………..7A Timeline of Western World Events…….……...9
About the PlaySynopsis of Richard III…...………………………………10
Rewriting History ………………………..….….…………11The Language of Richard III…...………………..…12Shakespeare’s Villains: The Ones You Love toHate…………………………………………………………..……14Question and Answer: The War of theRoses………………………………………………………………16Fate, Deformity and the Supernatural……….19
Classroom Connections• Before the Performance……………………………21 Director’s Chair Just a Dream False Faces What Will People Do for Power? First Ladies — Now and Then
• After the Performance………………………………22 Safe Violence The Tragedy of Richard Bedtime in the Tower of London Interpreting History Lets Get Critical
Suggested ReadingRichard III Resource List………….……..………..…...23
Cover: Mr. Garrick in the Character of Richard III by William Hogarth.
Welcome to the Shakespeare TheatreCompany’s production of Richard III byWilliam Shakespeare!
Each season, the Shakespeare Theatre Companypresents five plays by William Shakespeare andother classic playwrights. The mission of allEducation Department programs is to deepenunderstanding, appreciation and connection toclassic theatre in learners of all ages. Oneapproach is the publication of First Folio: TeacherCurriculum Guides.
For the 200607 season, the EducationDepartment will publish First Folio: TeacherCurriculum Guides for our productions of AnEnemy of the People, The Beaux’ Stratagem,Richard III and Titus Andronicus. First FolioGuides provide information and activities to helpstudents form a personal connection to the playbefore attending the production at theShakespeare Theatre Company. First Folio Guidescontain material about the playwrights, theirworld and the plays they penned. Also includedare approaches to explore the plays andproductions in the classroom before and afterthe performance. First Folio Guides are designedas a resource both for teachers and students.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s EducationDepartment provides an array of School,Community, Training and Audience Enrichmentprograms. A full listing of our programsi s avai l ab le on our webs i te atShakespeareTheatre.org or in our EducationPrograms brochure. If you would like moreinformation on how you can participate in otherShakespeare Theatre Company programs,please call the Education Hotline at202.547.5688.
Enjoy the show!
First Folio:Teacher Curriculum Guide
In the BeginningTheatre began as ritual, with tribal dances and festivalscelebrating the harvest, marriages, gods, war and basicallyany other event that warranted a party. People all over theworld congregated in villages. It was a participatory kind oftheatre; the performers would be joined by the villagers,resting on the belief that villagers’ lives depended on asuccessful celebration— the harvest had to be plentiful orthe battle victorious, or simply to be in good graces withtheir god or gods. Sometimes these festivals would last fordays, and the village proved tireless in their ability tocelebrate. Many of these types of festivals survive today inthe folk history of areas such as Scandinavia, Asia, Greeceand other countries throughout Europe.
It’s Greek to MeThe first recorded plays come from the Greeks (fourth andfifth centuries B.C.E.). Their form of theatre began in muchthe same way as previous forms did. It stemmed from thecelebration of the wine harvest and the gods who broughtcitizens a fruitful harvest— specifically Dionysus, the god ofwine. Spectators had a great deal of respect for their gods,and thousands would flock to the theatre to experience afull day of celebration. The day of drama and song madefor a lively crowd. Staffbearers patrolled the aisles to keepthe rowdies under control. While theatre was free, yourseat was determined by your station in life. The rich hadcushioned seats at the front, while the peasants, artisansand women were forced to take seats at the back. In thelater years, after a full day of drink, Greek audiences werenot above showing disapproval at a lessthanspectacularperformance. Stones were thrown, as well as other sloppyobjects, hissing was popular, and loud groanings ofdiscontent could usher any actor into early retirement.
The Romans, or the inspiration for GladiatorThe Romans took the idea of “spectator” an inch or sofurther. Their theatre (first through third centuries B.C.E.)developed in much the same way as the Greeks— withcomedy, tragedy and festivals— but unfortunately ended
with what the Christians called “morally inappropriate”dancing mimes, violent spectator sports such as gladiatorfights, and the public executions for which the Romanswere famous. The Romans loved violence, and theaudience was a lively crowd. Because theatre was free, itwas enjoyed by people of every social class. They werevocal, enjoyed hissing bad actors off the stage, and lovedto watch criminals meet large ferocious animals, and, soonafter, enjoyed watching those same criminals meet theirdeaths.
The Far EastIn Asia, theatre developed in much the same way it haselsewhere, through agricultural festivals and religiousworship. The Chinese and Japanese audiences havealways been tireless, mainly because their theatre forms,such as the Japanese “Kabuki” and “Noh” plays andChinese operas, could last anywhere between a full day, ifnot three days, beginning between six to nine in themorning! In China, the audience was separated; the higherclasses sat closer to the action of the play, and the lowerclasses, generally a louder, more talkative bunch, would beplaced in stalls at the back. The audience expected asuperior performance, and if it lacked in any way, theaudience could stop the production and insist on a differentpresentation. In Japan, theatre began with allday ricefestivals and temple plays sponsored by priests. Theseevolved into “street performances” where the performersled the audience on a trip through the village. In theatrehouses, the upper classes sat in constructed boxes, andwomen in disguise (it was not considered proper for arespectable woman to be seen at the theatre) and lowerclasses would stand below with the “inspector” standing ona high platform in the middle, keeping a strict eye oneveryone.
A Couple of Hundred Years without ArtTolerance takes a holiday during the period of Europeanhistory known as the Dark Ages. During this time periodculture of all kind goes on hiatus— most especially thatfrivolous, godless display of lewd and licentious behavior
The nature of the audience has changed throughout history, evolving from a participatory crowd to a group of people sittingbehind an imaginary line, silently observing the performers. The audience is continually growing and changing. There hasalways been a need for human beings to communicate their wants, needs, perceptions and disagreements to others. Thisneed to communicate is the foundation of art and the foundation of theatre’s relationship to its audience.
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of the very wealthy and often performed plays exclusivelyin the salons of the rich, famous and powerful. A fewhundred years later, opera composer Richard Wagnerfigured out that to focus the audience’s attention away fromthemselves and onto the stage, the lights needed to beoff— forcing the audience to watch the performance. Sincethat time, the audience has taken its cue that theperformance is about to begin when the lights overheadbegin to dim. This small adjustment in lighting effectivelyerected a permanent barrier between the action onstageand the audience.
Freud … Tell Me about Your MotherWhile dimming the house lights has drastically changed theoverall aesthetic of theatre, another modern movement hashad even greater impact on theatre in the 20th century.Psychoanalysis— Id, ego, superego and subconsciousdesires— made theatre more introspective in its search fortruth. As theatre became more psychological, more arepresentation of real life, the audience felt as if they wereeavesdropping. Twentyfirstcentury theatregoers spend agreat deal of time and thought pondering the psychologicalmotivations of characters. There is now an imaginary wall,called the “fourth wall,” separating the performers and theaudience. It affects how we view the performance and howactors’ portray characters— we can observe the peopleonstage as they relate their problems, fears and desireswithout them noticing us at all.
Now the Options Are EndlessToday, for the audience, just about anything goes. Historyhas shared with us many types of theatre, and we, thespectators, bring our own experiences and histories to theevent causing us to react differently to differentproductions. Unlike movies or television, the actoraudience relationship is a “live” relationship: each is in theother’s presence, in the same place at the same time. It isthe exchange between the two which gives theatre itsunique quality. As audience members we have anobligation to be attentive, allowing the performers to fulfilltheir obligation— to entertain and enlighten us. There isalways a dialogue between audience and performer,whether visual or vocal. All individuals participating in thetheatrical event, whether as audience or performer, bring toit a personal background and experience which becomesvital to their response, to the interaction. In the same way,every participant leaves the performance enriched both bytheir own individual experience and that of the largercommunity to which they belong for a brief moment withinthe confines of the theatre walls. We must listen to captureand understand what the performers are trying tocommunicate, and, at the same time, they must listen tous.
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known as theatre. Fortunately it reemerges with some severe restrictions during the Middle Ages.
Pageant WagonsWestern theatre further develops from the Greek and Roman traditions through the Middle Ages with “MysteryPlays” sponsored by the church. Organized theatre wasfrowned upon, as it was a place for congregation of thelower classes, encouraging disease and immoral behavior.Church leaders would allow performances of bible scenes,however, for the people who could not read. These productions moved to different locations much like traveling the“stations of the cross.” To spread the good word to thebroadest section of the population, these plays left the confines of the church building and began to travel on whatwere known as “pageant wagons.” These wagons held oneentire location and a series of wagons hooked togetherpermitted a company to tell an entire story just about anywhere. Troupes of actors would roam the countryside setting up makeshift theatres in inns, pubs, public squares,pretty much anywhere they could park.
Within This Wooden ODuring Shakespeare’s era— the Elizabethan period— theatre companies were awarded status and privilege based onpatronage from wealthy landholders or the royal family.With patronage came money, so the companies beganbuilding theatres. The theatre of Shakespeare’s day wasattended by all, was inexpensive, and was known to be anincredibly good time. Surrounding the stage was the lower“pit” where the lower classes congregated— called the“groundlings”— and above, octagonally surrounding the pit,were the stalls reserved for the upper classes. If you werestationed in the pit, it was not uncommon to have a gobletof wine dumped on your head, to be drooled upon, or spatupon by the “more civilized” people above you. Elizabethanaudiences did not know what it meant to be quiet for a performance and would talk back to the actors. Thought to beinvolved in spreading the “black plague,” the theatres wereclosed in 1592.
Look at me, look at me...During the Restoration, theatre became a luxury. For thealmost entirely upperclass audience, the purpose of goingto the theatre was “to see, and to be seen.” The stage wasa rectangular area between a long hallway of boxes. Thebest seats in the house were often right on stage! Thehouse lights were up full so the audience could see eachother better, not the action on stage. The theatre of theRestoration consisted mainly of light, fluffy comedies performed in an oratory style— actors posing, wearing BIGcostumes and practically screaming over the din of theaudience. Theatre companies still existed on the patronage
No man’s life has been the subject of more speculationthan William Shakespeare’s. For all his fame andcelebration, Shakespeare’s personal history remains amystery. There are two primary sources forinformation on the Bard—his works and various legaland church documents that have survived fromElizabethan times. Unfortunately, there are many gapsin this information and much room for conjecture.
We know a man named William Shakespeare wasbaptized at StratforduponAvon on April 26, 1564,and was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford onApril 25, 1616. Tradition holds that he was born threedays earlier, and that he died on his birthday—April23—but this is perhaps more romantic myth than fact.Young William was born of John Shakespeare, aglover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, alanded heiress. William, according to the churchregister, was the third of eight children in theShakespeare household, three of whom died inchildhood. We assume that Shakespeare went togrammar school, since his father was first a member ofthe Stratford Council and later high bailiff (theequivalent of town mayor). A grammar schooleducation would have meant that Shakespeare wasexposed to the rudiments of Latin rhetoric, logic andliterature.
In 1575, John Shakespeare suddenly disappears fromStratford’s political records. Some believe that hisremoval from office necessitated his son’s quittingschool and taking a position as a butcher’s apprentice.Church records tell us that banns (announcements)were published for the marriage of a WilliamShakespeare to an Ann Whatley in 1582 (there are norecords indicating that this arrangement wassolemnized, however). On November 27 of the sameyear a marriage license was granted to 18yearoldWilliam and 26yearold Anne Hathaway. A daughter,Susanna, was born to the couple six months later. We
know that twins,Hamnet and Judith,were born soon afterand that the twinswere baptized. We alsoknow that Hamnetdied in childhood atthe age of 11, onAugust 11, 1596. Wedon’t know how theyoung Shakespearecame to travel toLondon or how he firstcame to the stage. Onetheory holds thatyoung Wil l wasarrested as a poacher(one who huntsillegally on someone
On William Shakespeareelse’s property) andescaped to London toavoid prosecution inStratford. Another holdsthat he left home towork in the city as aschool teacher. Neitheris corroborated bycontemporary testimonyor public record.Whatever the truth maybe, it is clear that in theyears between 1582and 1592, WilliamS h a k e s p e a r e d i dbecome involved in theLondon theatre scene asa principal actor andplaywright with one of several repertory companies.
By 1594, Shakespeare was listed as a shareholder inthe Lord Chamberlain’s Men, one of the most popularacting companies in London. He was a member of thiscompany for the rest of his career, which lasted untilapproximately 1611. When James I came to thethrone in 1603, he issued a royal license toShakespeare and his fellow players, inviting them tocall themselves the King’s Men. In 1608, the King’sMen leased the Blackfriar’s Theatre in London. Thistheatre, which had artificial lighting and was probablyheated, served as their winter playhouse. The famousGlobe Theatre was their summer performance space.
In 1616 Shakespeare’s daughter Judith marriedThomas Quiney, the son of a neighbor in Stratford.Her father revised his will six weeks later; within amonth he had died. The revised version of WilliamShakespeare’s will bequeathed his house and all thegoods therein to his daughter Susanna and herhusband, Dr. John Hall, leaving Judith and Thomasonly a small sum of money; his wife, who survived him,received the couple’s second best bed.
In the years since Shakespeare’s death, he has risen tothe position of patron saint of English literature anddrama. In the 1800s especially, his plays were sopopular that many refused to believe that an actorfrom Stratford had written them. To this day somebelieve that Sir Francis Bacon was the real author ofthe plays; others choose to believe Edward DeVere,the Earl of Oxford, was the author. Still others wouldprefer to believe Walter Raleigh or ChristopherMarlowe penned the lines attributed to Shakespeare.While most people are content to believe that geniuscan spring up in any social class or rural setting, thegap between the known facts and the myths thatsurround Shakespeare’s life leaves ample room forspeculation.
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Portrait of Shakespeare engraved byMartin Droeshout, found on the titlepage of the First Folio edition ofShakespeare’s works, 1623.
The Chandos portrait of Shakespeare,which is the only one known to beproduced during his lifetime.
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“Black Death” claimed so many lives that English societystood on the verge of collapse. Many businesses,including theatres, closed, in part to keep people fromspreading the disease and in part because of the laborshortage that resulted from such widespread illness anddeath. Once the epidemic subsided, the theatresreopened and quickly regained their former popularity.
This explosion of commerce and culture lastedthroughout Elizabeth’s reign and into that of hersuccessor, James I. James’ rule brought many changes toEnglish life; the two most pivotal were a bankrupteconomy and an intense dissatisfaction from a minorityreligious group—the Puritans. In September 1642, thePuritan Parliament issued an edict that forbade all stageplays and closed the theatres, an act that effectivelybrought to a close the Elizabethan Renaissance.Theatres rapidly fell into disrepair and neglect until theRestoration in 1660.
In writing his plays and sonnets, William Shakespearedrew ideas from many different sources. His keen eye fordetail and his sharp understanding of human natureenabled him to create some of the most enduring worksof drama and poetry ever produced. But his work alsoprovides an insightful commentary on 16thcenturyEnglish values, life, history and thought.
ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND
The age of Shakespeare was a great time in Englishhistory. During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558—1603),England emerged as the leading naval and commercialpower of the Western world, consolidating this positionwith the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.Elizabeth I firmly established the Church of England(begun by her father Henry VIII after a dispute with thePope) during this time. London in the 16th centuryunderwent a dramatic transformation; the populationgrew 400% between 1500 and 1600, swelling to nearly200,000 people in the city proper and outlying regionby the time an emerging artist from Stratford came totown. A rising merchant middle class was carving out aproductive livelihood, and the economy was booming.
During Shakespeare's lifetime, England also experienceda tremendous cultural revival. This socalled EnglishRenaissance found expression in architecture, music,literature and drama. Shakespeare both drew inspirationfrom and enhanced high and popular culture of theEnglish Renaissance. Popular entertainment during the16th century tended to be boisterous and often violent.Many men, women and children attended publicexecutions of criminals that took place on a regularbasis, and persons of all social classes and gendersattended theatre performances. The trade of bookmaking flourished during the period as public educationfueled the appetite for great works in print.
During the years 15901593, England suffered from anoutbreak of terrible proportions; the bubonic plague or
Illustration of London,Wenceslaus Hollar, 1647.
The “Dewitt” sketch of the Swan Theatre is thought to be the onlycontemporary visual account of an Elizabethan playhouse.
Plays are also categorized in the First Folio as Histories,done so because these works chronicled the lives ofEnglish Kings. These plays tended toward tragedy(Richard II or Richard III, for instance) or comedy (theFalstaff subplots of both parts of Henry IV and thePistolFluellen encounters of Henry V.) Through theeffort to categorize Shakespeare’s plays in publication,we can see that his writing style mingled theantagonistic visions of comedy and tragedy in waysthat still seem novel and startling. The recognition ofthis has led scholars since the publication of the FirstFolio to add additional genres—problem plays,romances, tragicomedies—to help classify the works ofShakespeare. Still other scholars have augmentedthese genres by grouping the plays chronologically,separating by time periods.
The first period, pre1594 including Richard III and TheComedy of Errors, has its roots in Roman and medievaldrama—the construction of the plays, while good, isobvious and shows the author's hand more so thanhis later works. The second period, 15941600including Henry V and A Midsummer Night’s Dream,shows more growth in style and a lesslaboredconstruction. The histories of this period areconsidered Shakespeare's best, portraying the lives ofroyalty in human terms. He also begins theinterweaving of genres that would become one of hisstylistic signatures. His comedies mature in this period,developing deeper characterization and subjects thanpreviously seen in his work.
Shakespeare’s WorksWilliam Shakespeare, in terms of both his life and bodyof work, is the most writtenabout author in thehistory of Western civilization. His canon includes 38plays, 154 sonnets and two epic narrative poems.During his lifetime, many of his plays were publishedin what are known as Quarto editions, frequentlywithout receiving the playwright’s permission. TheQuartos are mostly flawed versions containing addedmaterial or missing entire passages from the originalworks. The first collected edition of Shakespeare’sworks is called the First Folio and was published afterthe playwright’s death in 1623 by two members of hisacting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell.Since then the works of Shakespeare have beenstudied, analyzed, translated and enjoyed the worldover as some of the finest masterpieces of the Englishlanguage.
Establishing the chronology of Shakespeare's plays is afrustrating and difficult task. It is impossible to know inwhat order the plays were written because there is norecord of the first production date of any of his works.However, scholars have decided upon a specific playchronology based on the following sources ofinformation: 1) several historical events and allusionsto those events in the plays; 2) the records ofperformances of the plays, taken from such places asthe diaries of other Shakespeare contemporaries; 3)the publication dates of sources; and 4) the dates thatthe plays appear in print (remembering that a playwas produced immediately after it was written in theElizabethan age, but may not have been published foryears following the first production). Despite the factthat we have an accepted play chronology, we mustkeep in mind that the dating is conjectural, and thereare many who disagree with the order of plays listedon the next page.
Drawing distinctions between Shakespeare’s plays andcategorizing his works has been a focus of scholars forhundreds of years, and the criteria used todifferentiate the plays into types or genres haschanged over time.
The distinction between tragedy and comedy becameparticularly important during Shakespeare's life.During that time writers of tragedy conformed toAristotle’s definition, relating the tale of a great man orwoman brought down through hubris or fate.Comedy in this time, much like in our own, descendedfrom the Roman "New Comedy" of Plautus andTerence, which kept away from politics and focusedon love, domestic troubles and family affairs.
In the First Folio, some of Shakespeare’s plays aredivided by their theatrical genre—either Tragedies orComedies—however, some of the tragedies’protagonists or heroes, like Romeo, Timon or Macbeth,do not easily accommodate Aristotle's definition.
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The third period, 16001608 including Macbeth andKing Lear, includes the great tragedies—the principalworks that would earn Shakespeare his fame in latercenturies. The comedies of this period showShakespeare at a literary crossroads—they are oftendarker and without the clear comic resolution ofprevious comedies—hence the term "problem plays" todescribe them. The fourth period, post1608 includingThe Winter’s Tale and The Tempest, encompasseswhat have been referred to as the romances ortragicomedies. Shakespeare at the end of his careerseemed preoccupied with themes of redemption. Thewriting is more serious yet more lyrical, and the playsshow Shakespeare at his most symbolic. Scholarsargue whether this period owes more toShakespeare's maturity as a playwright or merelysignifies a changing trend in Elizabethan theatre.
It is important for scholars, teachers and students tokeep in mind that these “genre” classifications werenot determined by Shakespeare during the writing ofeach play but imposed after his death to help readersbetter understand his work.
Shakespeare’s PlaysFirstPerformed Title159091 Henry VI, Part II159091 Henry VI, Part III159192 Henry VI, Part I159293 Richard III159293 The Comedy of Errors159394 Titus Andronicus159394 The Taming of the Shrew159495 The Two Gentlemen of Verona159495 Love's Labour's Lost159495 Romeo and Juliet159596 Richard II159596 A Midsummer Night's Dream159697 King John159697 The Merchant of Venice159798 Henry IV, Part I159798 Henry IV, Part II159899 Much Ado about Nothing159899 Henry V15991600 Julius Caesar15991600 As You Like It15991600 Twelfth Night160001 Hamlet160001 The Merry Wives of Windsor160102 Troilus and Cressida160203 All's Well That Ends Well160405 Measure for Measure160405 Othello160506 King Lear160506 Macbeth160607 Antony and Cleopatra160708 Coriolanus160708 Timon of Athens160809 Pericles160910 Cymbeline161011 The Winter's Tale161112 The Tempest161213 Henry VIII161213 The Two Noble Kinsmen*
*The Two Noble Kinsmen is listed although afew scholars do not believe it is an originalShakespeare work. The majority of the playwas probably written by John Fletcher,Shakespeare's close friend who succeeded himas foremost dramatist for the King's Men.
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First Folio title page of Hamlet.
Shakespeare’s
When we scan a piece of text (marking it with a “ ”for the unstressed and “/“ for stressed), we simply tapout the rhythm of the line, based on dee DUM deeDUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM, to see if the line isstructured in iambic pentameter:
/ / / / /
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?(II.ii.2)
Embracing the rules of this new verse, Shakespeare’searly writing operated almost entirely within strictiambic pentameter.
Prose in Shakespeare’s work is not in iambicpentameter and relies more heavily on other literarydevices for its speed and rhythm. These devicesinclude: antithesis (setting opposite words againsteach other), lists (series of actions or descriptive wordsthat build to a climax) and puns (the use or misuse of aword to mean another word). Shakespeare used proseto express conversation between the lower classes,like the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,or familiar or intimate scenes, as with Henry andKatherine at the end of Henry V. He also utilizedprose to express madness or vulgarity, as in thenunnery scene of Hamlet. The exact meaning of a shiftfrom verse to prose is not constant, but it alwayssignals a change in the situation, characters or tone ofa scene. Only Much Ado about Nothing and TheMerry Wives of Windsor rely almost entirely on prose.
In the following passage from The Merry Wives ofWindsor, note antithesis in Ford’s comparison ofhimself with Page and of other men’s possessions withMistress Ford, see the list of things Ford would rathertrust others with than his “wife with herself” andobserve the pun on “effect”:
FordPage is an ass, a secure ass; he will trust his wife, he will notbe jealous. I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter,Parson Hugh the Welshman with my cheese, an Irishmanwith my aquavitae bottle, or a thief to walk my amblinggelding, than my wife with herself. Then she plots, then sheruminates, then she devises; and what they think in theirhearts they may effect, they will break their hearts but theywill effect. God be praised for my jealousy!
(II.ii.300314)
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Verse & ProseDuring the Elizabethan period, “English” was arelatively young language (only about 160 years old)combining Latin, French and AngloSaxon. There wasno dictionary or standardized literacy education.People in Shakespeare’s London spoke much morethan they read, causing the rules of grammar andspelling to be quite fluid. Writers created new wordsdaily and poets expressed themselves in a new formof writing known as blank verse, first appearing in1557 in Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aenis by the Earl ofSurrey:
They whistled all, with fixed face attentWhen Prince Aeneas from the royal seatThus gan to speak, O Queene, it is thy will,I should renew a woe can not be told:
(Book II, 14)
That the verse was “blank” simply meant that thepoetry did not rhyme, allowing rhymeless poets suchas Virgil and Ovid to be translated and Elizabethanplaywrights to emulate the natural rhythms ofEnglish speech within iambic pentameter.
A typical line of verse from this time contains fiveunits of meter or feet. Each foot contains twosyllables. When the first syllable is unstressed and thesecond syllable is stressed (dee DUM), it is an iamb(iambic meaning push, persistency or determination).The prefix penta means five, as in the fivesidedshape—a pentagon. Iambic pentameter is thereforeone line of poetry consisting of five forwardmovingfeet.
It was this new tradition of blank verse in iambicpentameter that Shakespeare inherited as heembarked on his career as playwright and poet.Similar to the human heartbeat, a horse gallop or thebeat of a piece of music, iambic pentameter drivesand supports Shakespeare’s verse, moving thelanguage along in a forward flow that emulates thenatural speech and rhythms of life. Here is a standardline of verse in iambic pentameter from Romeo andJuliet.
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?(II.ii.2)
If we were to say the rhythm and not the words, itwould sound like this:
dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM
Eventually, in Othello, King Lear and Macbeth,Shakespeare became a master of building, breakingand reinventing rhythms and language to create anentire tone or world for a play. Continuouslyexperimenting and exploring the combination of form,meaning and language, he used short and sharedlines between characters more and more, as inMacbeth, allowing the speed and rhythm ofcharacters’ thoughts to meet and collide.
Lady Macbeth I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did not you speak?
Macbeth When?Lady Macbeth Now.Macbeth As I descended?
(II.ii.1519)
By the time Shakespeare gives his final farewell in TheTempest, believed by many to be his last play, his verseis so varied and specific to character and situation thatit is extremely difficult to scan. Shakespeare broke,rebuilt and reinvented the verse form so many timesthat he plays the equivalent of jazz in the rhythms ofCymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. At theend of The Tempest, in Prospero’s powerfully simpleepilogue, Shakespeare brings his work full circle byreturning to the simplicity of regular verse. Havingcreated almost 1,700 words, timeless characters andthe greatest poetry in the history of the Englishlanguage, Shakespeare “buries his art” and returns tothe form with which he began.
As his writing skill level increased, Shakespearegradually employed alliteration (the repetition of avowel or consonant in two or more words in aphrase), assonance (resembling vowel sounds in aline) and onomatopoeia (words with soundsimitating their meaning) to create deeply poetic,vibrant images on stage for the characters and hisaudience. Examples of these three literary devices arefound in the following four lines:
ChorusFrom camp to camp through the foul womb of nightThe hum of either army stilly sounds,That the fixed sentinels almost receiveThe secret whispers of each other's watch.
(Henry V, IV.47)
The hard “C” is repeated in the first line (alliteration),the “O” is heard in “through”, “foul” and“womb” (assonance) and the word “whispers” in thelast line imitates the sound whispers produce(onomatopoeia).
By the time Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, he sometimesallowed a character’s thoughts to overflow theirusual pentameter lines with an extra beat, oftenending with a soft or feminine ending. He alsoutilized more and more enjambed or runon lines,allowing thoughts to continue from line to line,rather than finishing a thought per line. He grew toexpress the inner life of his characters and the size oftheir thoughts within the structure and the scansionof the text. In this famous passage from Hamlet,notice the overflow in the first line of Hamlet’s hugethought beyond the regular pentameter, forming afeminine ending:
/ / / / /
To be, or not to be: that is the question:(III.i.55)
With this overflow, Shakespeare expresses theenormity of Hamlet’s thought, his situation and theuneasy exploration of this argument. (It is importantto remember, however, scanning is subjective andmust be decided by the individual actor or reader.)This line might also be scanned:
/ / / / /
To be, or not to be: that is the question:(III.i.55)
This creates a trochee, or an iamb of reversed stress—DEE dum.
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An artist’s rendition of the inside of an Elizabethantheatre.
1564 William Shakespeare born to John andMary Shakespeare in StratfordUponAvon.
1570 John Shakespeare first applies for afamily coat of arms. His application isdenied.
1582 William Shakespeare marries AnneHathaway.
1583 Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna born.1585 Shakespeare’s twins Judith and Hamnet
born.1587 Shakespeare goes to London to pursue
life in the theatre.
1593 Shakespeare writes Venus and Adonis.Also begins writing the Sonnets.
1594 Shakespeare becomes a foundingmember of the Lord Chamberlain’sMen.
1596 Hamnet Shakespeare dies at age 11.1597 Shakespeare purchases New Place in
Stratford.1599 Shakespeare’s family is granted a coat
of arms.1601 Shakespeare’s father dies.
1603 The Lord Chamberlain’s Men arerenamed the King’s Men. They performat the Court of King James I more thanany other company.
1605 Shakespeare purchases more land inStratford.
1608 The King’s Men begin playing at theBlackfriars Theatre, a prominent indoortheatre.
1609 Shakespeare’s Sonnets published.
1616 In March, Shakespeare, apparently ill,revises his will. On April 23rd he diesand is buried at Holy Trinity Church,Stratford.
1623 Shakespeare’s First Folio published.
1558 Queen Elizabeth I takes the throne.
1562 A series of civil wars between Catholicsand Protestants, known as the Wars ofReligion, begin in France.
1564 John Calvin, an influential Protestantleader during the Reformation, dies.An outbreak of the plague devastatesLondon.
1568 A revolt of the SpanishruledNetherlands against Philip II, King ofSpain, begins the Eighty Years War.
1580 Sir Frances Drake circumnavigates theEarth.
1586 Mary Queen of Scots is tried for treasonand executed by beheading.
1588 The British Navy defeats the SpanishArmada, avoiding a long war betweenEngland and Spain.
1589 The Wars of Religion end when Henryof Navarre ascends to the throne tobecome King Henry IV of France.
1598 Philip II of Spain dies.The French Protestants are permittedto freely practice their religion by theEdict of Nantes.
1601 The Earl of Essex attempts to rebelagainst Queen Elizabeth, fails and isexecuted.
1603 Sir Walter Raleigh is arrested, tried andimprisoned for disobeying the Queenby secretly marrying one of her maids ofhonor.Queen Elizabeth dies. King James VI ofScotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots,becomes King James I of England. Theplague once again ravages London.
1604 England establishes a peace treaty withSpain.
1607 Jamestown, one of the first Englishcolonies in the Americas, is founded.
1610 King Henry IV of France is murdered.He is succeeded by his son, Louis XIII.
1618 The Protestant German princes and theirforeign supporters begin their struggleagainst the Holy Roman Empire. Thismarks the start of the Thirty Years War.
1540 Michelangelo finishes painting The LastJudgment.
1543 Copernicus’ heliocentric theory, claimingthe sun is the center of the universe, isfirst published.
1564 Christopher “Kit” Marlowe born.1565 Arthur Golding translates Ovid’s
Metamorphoses. The text later influencedShakespeare’s work.
1567 Richard Burbage, a tragedian whoportrayed many of Shakespeare’scharacters, born.
1572 Poet John Donne born.Playwright Ben Jonson born.
1576 The first permanent theatre in England,The Theatre, is built.
1577 Raphael Holinshed publishes TheChronicles of England, Scotland andIreland, which becomes Shakespeare’sprimary source for the history plays.
1580 Thomas Middleton, a playwright whocollaboratively wrote many plays, born.
1588 Marlowe’s play Dr. Faustus first produced.1590 Marlowe’s play The Jew of Malta first
produced; it influenced Shakespeare’sThe Merchant of Venice.
1592 Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy firstproduced. It influenced Shakespeare’sHamlet.
1597 The Theatre permanently closes due tothe expiration of its lease.
1599 The Globe Theatre is built on Banksidefrom the timbers of The Theatre.
1603 The “Scientific Revolution” begins withJohann Kepler’s recordings of planetarymovements and Galileo Galilei’sperfection of the telescope.
1606 Ben Jonson’s play Volpone is written.
1607 Burbage leases the Blackfriars Theatrefor indoor performances.
1611 The King James Bible first published.
1616 Ben Jonson’s Workes published in folio.
of Western World Events
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Timeline
Shakespeare’s Life and Works Western History Events in Western Art, Science& Culture
A fter a long civil war England enjoys a period ofpeace under King Edward IV and the victorious
Yorks. But the king’s younger brother Richard, Dukeof Gloucester, resents Edward IV's power andthe happiness of those around him. Malicious,powerhungry and bitter about his physical deformity,Richard plots to seize the throne by removing any andall impediments between him and the crown.
Richard halts the procession accompanying the casketof the formerKing Henry VI. Over Henry’s coffin LadyAnne Neville, daughterinlaw of Henry IV and wife ofPrince Edward (both of whom Richard has murdered),curses Richard. He manipulates her so successfully thatshe agrees to be his bride. Richard’s next step is to causethe murder of his older brother George, Duke ofClarence—the next in line for the throne. By insinuatingClarence committed treason, Richard has his brotherarrested (having already arranged for him to bemurdered while imprisoned). Richard is now positionedto serve as regent to King Edward IV's son (also namedEdward), the Prince of Wales, until he comes of age.Ailing, Edward IV succumbs to illness; and Richard sendsthe Prince of Wales and his younger brother to theTower—to better “protect” them. He then moves againstthe court noblemen who are loyal to the Princes;Vaughan, Rivers, Hastings and Grey are imprisoned andlater executed. Richard also has the boys' maternalrelatives—the powerful kinsmen of Edward IV's wife,Queen Elizabeth—arrested and executed.
With Queen Elizabeth and the princes nowunprotected, Richard has his political allies, particularlyLord Buckingham, campaign to have Richard crownedking. After a clever planting of insinuations regardingthe illegitimacy of Edward IV and his children, Richardascends to the throne as Richard III. By this time, Richardhas alienated even his own mother, who curses him as abloody tyrant. Recognizing the need to bolster his claimto the crown, Richard sends a murderer to dispose ofthe princes. Buckingham, until now Richard's staunchestally, angered at the murders of the two young boys andat Richard’s false dealings with him, flees. When rumorsbegin to circulate about a challenger to the throne whois gathering forces in France, noblemen defect in drovesto join him. The challenger is Henry Tudor, Earl ofRichmond a descendant of the Lancaster familyasserting his own right to the throne.
Richard has his wife, Queen Anne, murdered, so that hecan pursue a marriage with young Elizabeth, daughterof former Queen Elizabeth and dead King Edward IV.Though Elizabeth is Richard’s niece, the alliance wouldsecure his claim to the throne.
Queen Elizabeth manages to forestall Richard andsecretly arranges an alliance with Richmond.
In one final ruthless act, Richard captures his former allyBuckingham on his way to join with Tudor’s armies andhas him beheaded. Former allies have all turned againstRichard to join forces with Richmond who has landed inEngland and is marching inland to claim the crown. Onthe eve of the battle, both men are visited in dreams bythe ghosts of all those whom Richard has slaughtered,returning to condemn Richard and to hearten HenryTudor. Tudor’s forces defeat Richard’s army at the Battleof Bosworth Field. Henry Tudor slays Richard exclaiming,“The bloody dog is dead” (V.v.ii). Accepting the crown asHenry VII, he marries Elizabeth of York, thus uniting thewhite rose (the Yorkists) and the red rose (theLancastrians). This is the founding of the Tudor line ofkings and the end of the Wars of the Roses.
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Synopsis of Richard III
Wallace Acton as Richard in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s200203 production of Richard III.
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Shakespeare wrote several works thatdramatize significant events in English history.This type of play, originally called a “chronicleplay” and now called a “history play,” was
popular in Elizabethan England. Shakespeareintended for these plays to be good theatre—condensing and simplifying events, ignoringchronology and altering characters’ actions and agesto tell a compelling story. In Richard III, Shakespearealso intended to write a play to glorify the Tudordynasty, as Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather was HenryTudor, Earl of Richmond, the conqueror at the end ofthe play. By portraying Richard as a hunchbackedvillain and Richmond as a valiant rescuer,Shakespeare validated Queen Elizabeth’s reign, andalso created a fictionalized picture of history that hasremained through the modern day. Looking back atShakespeare’s historical sources, we can see howhistory has been written, revised and fictionalizedthroughout the ages.
Shakespeare’s main source for the historical events inRichard III was The Chronicles of England, Scotlandand Ireland by Raphael Holinshed. Published in 1587,Holinshed’s Chronicles contained maps of England,Scotland and Ireland and the history of each region,recorded from prehistoric legends through the 16thcentury. Much of Holinshed’s information came fromprevious historians, including Polydore Vergil. WhenHenry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII in 1485, hecommissioned Polydore Vergil to write a history ofthe English monarchy. The book, Anglica Historia,was meant to reaffirm Henry VII’s claim to the throne.It portrayed Henry Bolingbroke’s usurpation ofRichard II’s crown as the source for warring and strife,and claimed that the restoration of peace resultedfrom Henry Tudor’s rise to power. The historyperpetuated other rumors like Richard III’s physicaldeformity.
Shakespeare also found inspiration for the characterof Richard III in Sir Thomas More’s book The History ofKing Richard the Thirde, published in 1543. ThomasMore grew up in the household of John Morton,Bishop of Ely, who was imprisoned by Richard IIIduring his reign. While More’s account is intended tobe factual, he exaggerated details about Richard’s
deformity, creating a monstrous picture ofa murderer that Shakespeare then solidified intothe delicious villain that Richard is thought oftoday.
Shakespeare’s depiction of Richard was not onlyaesthetic but also political. When Richard IIIdebuted in the early 1590s, Queen Elizabeth wasmore than 60 years old and had no children, andtherefore no heir to the throne. History toldElizabethans that this could cause terrible civilwars, as rival lords made claims to the throneafter the death of the monarch. Shakespeare,writing and performing under the favor of theQueen, created a play that kept public opinion insupport of continuing the Tudor monarchy.Richard III also had a warning for anyone whoconsidered taking the crown from the Tudorsafter Elizabeth’s death: usurpation is adangerous, and ultimately deadly, business.
Shakespeare crafted his play and the titlecharacter so well it is often mistakenly considereda factual portrayal of people and events. Hisaccount of history has led to continual debatearound the “villainy” of Richard. Did he order theexecution of his brother the Duke of Clarence?Was Richard directly responsible for the deathsof the princes in the Tower of London? How, ifat all, was Richard physically deformed?Shakespeare made choices writing his portrayalof Richard and the final years of the Wars ofthe Roses, penning a character audienceslove to hate. Through the creative manipulationof English history, Shakespeare created a “mirror”for Elizabethans to revisit their past in light of itscontemporary relevance.
Rewriting History
The Rival Richards, or Shakespear [sic] in Danger. Political cartoon ofEdmund Kean and Charles Mayne Young, both dressed as Richard III,struggling for Shakespeare, who stands between them, crying“Murder! Murder!” Published in London, 1814.
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“Richard, the third son, of whom we now entreat,was … little of stature, illfeatured of limbs,crookbacked, his left shoulder much higher thanhis right, hardfavoured of visage …He was malicious, wrathful, envious and fromafore his birth ever forward.”
—Sir Thomas More’s The History of King Richard the Thirde, 1543.
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As a student at Stratford Grammar School, youngWilliam Shakespeare learned how to read and writethrough the art of rhetoric. An ancient approach tocommunication dating back to the Greeks, rhetoricwas a style of writing that placed the sameimportance on both what was said and how it wassaid, giving equal weight to content and form. In hisfirst three plays, the Henry VI trilogy, Shakespearewrote almost entirely within the strict rules ofrhetoric, communicating a clear story of the Wars ofthe Roses, but without creating any truly original orwellrounded character development. When hewrote Richard III, however, Shakespeare begansurpassing the rules of rhetoric by filling his writingwith imagery that conveyed the individualexperiences of each character.
Written early in Shakespeare’s career (around15923), Richard III is written almost entirely inregular verse, without the prose and broken verseseen in his later plays. Unlike the earlier Henry VIParts 1, 2 and 3, the characters in Richard III oftenspeak directly to the audience and use language thatconveys their individual experiences, showingShakespeare’s growth as a writer. At the beginning ofthe play, Richard communicates through traditionalrhetoric. Shakespeare uses the repetition of the samewords at the beginning of each line to logically set upfor the audience Richard’s bitter description of theworld that he despises:
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;Our bruiséd arms hung up for monuments;Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
I.i.48
Shakespeare also uses clear antitheses, or opposites,to show the difference between the time of war andthe time of peace (i.e. “dreadful marches” and“delightful measures”). A few verse lines later,however, Richard focuses on himself, and hislanguage shifts, pushing beyond the structure andformality of traditional rhetoric, communicating aclear selfhatred through the negative physicalimages of himself.
I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,Deformed, unfinish’d, sent before my timeInto this breathing world, scarce half made up,And that so lamely and unfashionableThat dogs bark at me as I halt by them
I.i.1823
This also sets up the animal imagery that willcontinue through the play. Richard gives us the
Title page of Richard III from the First Quarto, 1597.
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The Language of Richard III
Rhetoric—the art of language composition; the study of writing or speakingVerse—text written with a meter or rhythmProse—text, speech or writing without meter or rhythmAntithesis—words or phrases with opposite meaning balanced against each other
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image of dogs barking at his deformed body ashe limps by; throughout the play, languagereferring to Richard is rich with images ofgrotesque beasts. In act 1, scene 2, Lady Annerefers to Richard as a “hedgehog,” and in act 1scene 3 Queen Margaret calls him a “poisonousbunchback’d toad” and goes on to call him an“elvishmark’d, abortive, rooting hog.” In fact,several characters refer to Richard as “the boar”because his coat of arms was a white boarwith golden tusks. The continual reference tobeasts is intended to illuminate Richard’s truenature.
Richard’s foul deeds eventually unleashnightmares that return to haunt him, cursinghim with selfdoubt and fear. In a nightmarethe evening before his final battle, ghosts ofthose Richard has killed come back to haunthim. Immediately following the dream, Richardawakes and expresses his newfound selfdoubtin the most broken and unconventionallanguage of the play. Still partially relying on arhetorical device by repeating the same wordat the end of several lines, Shakespeare drivesRichard toward a powerful realization byrepeating “myself”:
What do I fear? Myself? There's none else by.Richard loves Richard, that is, I am I.Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am.Then fly. What, from myself? Great reason why—Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself?Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any goodThat I myself have done unto myself?O, no! Alas, I rather hate myselfFor hateful deeds committed by myself!
V.iii.182190
The short, broken sentences in this passageconvey the twists and turns of Richard’s mind ashe struggles with his own guilt. With his famouslast line, “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for ahorse!” Richard almost echoes the first line of hisdream the night before, “Give me anotherhorse!,” providing audiences insight that he’sboth haunted and changed by his dream. By theend of the battle, and the play, Richard’sselfdoubt and loathing lead to his defeat anddeath.
In Richard III, Shakespeare plays with the rulesof rhetoric to create his first fully realizedcharacters, utilizing the most compellingimagery thus far in his career.
Portrait of Richard Mansfield as Richard III, 1855.
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Laurence Olivier as Richard and Ralph Richardson as Buckinghamin Olivier’s 1955 film, Richard III.
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The full title of Shakespeare’s play is The Tragedyof Richard III. Traditionally, a tragedy is defined asthe story of a noble hero brought to ruin by atragic flaw. The protagonist of Richard III, however,is throughandthrough a villain. Richard has nonoble qualities to make him a hero by anystandard, and his ruin is welldeserved. But despitehis wickedness, Richard has continued to delightand enthrall audiences for four centuries. Even inRichard III, one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, he isable to create a fullbodied villain, thoroughly evilbut also thoroughly human.
Writing a play with a villain as the main characterwas not Shakespeare’s innovation. The device wascommon on the Elizabethan stage and had beenmade popular by one of Shakespeare’scontemporaries, Christopher Marlowe, in his playsThe Jew of Malta (1589), about a Jewish merchantbent on revenge, and Tamburlaine (1587), whichfollows the victories of a merciless conqueror.Shakespeare could hardly ignore a trend that waspopular on the stage at the time. The history ofvillainous characters can also be traced back to
Medieval Mystery Plays; developed in 15thcenturyEngland, these plays used allegorical charactersand simple plots to teach audiences a specific morallesson. Characters such as Knowledge, Strengthand Good Deeds would share the stage with theDevil, Death and Vice. Often, the two groupswould battle for possession of a man’s soul. Thesymbolic characters were not meant to be people;rather they were physical representations ofdifferent virtues and sins. The characters and plotwere constructed very simply so that the lesson ofthe play would be clear to the audience. Evilcharacters would have comic scenes to entertainthe audience as well.
Shakespeare would certainly have seen moralityplays in some form as he was growing up, and theywould have an influence on his later work. Thecharacter of Vice in particular is evoked in some ofShakespeare’s villains, especially those like RichardIII, who scheme to bring about the downfall ofothers without remorse. Richard III was the earliestof Shakespeare’s vice characters, who includeAaron the Moor in Titus Andronicus (1593), Iago inOthello (1604), Claudius in Hamlet (1601) and theMacbeths in Macbeth (1605). In creating thesecharacters, however, Shakespeare moves farbeyond the onedimensional Vice character of theMedieval Mystery Plays, and even beyond the lesssophisticated villain characters of his contemporaries.Shakespeare creates villains who are horrificallyevil, but at the same time charmingly fascinatingand even sympathetically human—the kind ofcharacters that actors love to play and audienceslove to watch.
Richard is a great example of this kind of character.He begins the play by directly addressing theaudience to declare his wicked intentions. “Plots Ihave laid,” he says, sharing his secret schemes. Inthis way, Richard invites the audience to watchwith morbid fascination as everything falls out ashe has planned. Richard never lies to the audience,and therefore they feel as though they are “in on”
Shakespeare’s VillainsAnd therefore, since I cannot prove a loverTo entertain these fair wellspoken days,I am determined to prove a villainAnd hate the idle pleasures of these days.
—Richard III, I.i.2831
Ian McKellan as Richard III in the 1995 film directed by RichardLoncraine.
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his secrets and plans. In addition, Richard iscapable of showing many different faces. He isundoubtedly charming—in the first few scenesthe audience watches him plot Clarence’s death,and then immediately change faces and assurehis brother that he will release him from prison.Then the audience watches him woo and winLady Anne, despite the fact that he has murderedher father and husband. He then instantlyrejoices in the fact that he will dispose of hershortly. Richard directly addresses the audience,sharing his joys and anger. The audience maybe horrified by Richard’s actions, but they delightin watching him manipulate those around him.
Shakespeare creates Richard with a degree ofhumanity. Because he cannot “prove a lover” andenjoy the time of peace due to his deformity,Richard decides that he will “prove a villain” andseek power for himself. In this way, Shakespearegives Richard a motivation for his villainy. Unlikethe typical Medieval Vice characters, Richard is abelievable character, not a personification ofevil. Richard may be the ultimate archvillain.He is also a credible, threedimensional humanbeing who, because of his deformity, lashes outat the world.
In his later plays, Shakespeare continued tocreate charming and deeply human villains.These characters often address the audiencedirectly, like Richard, sharing and delighting intheir sins. Aaron the Moor, in Titus Andronicus, isanother who plots the downfall of every majorcharacter in the play. While Aaron never states amotive for his villainy, besides the delight he getsfrom causing woe, he exhibits moments ofhumanity when he must protect his illegitimateinfant from murder, showing a fierce family love.In Othello, Shakespeare creates what manyconsider his greatest villain, Iago. Iago cleverlyorchestrates the destruction of those who trusthim the most, Othello and Desdemona. Statinghis motivation only as jealousy (he was passedover for a promotion and suspects that his wifehas been unfaithful with Othello), Iago achieveshis dastardly ambitions not through directviolence, but through deception, relishing hisability to manipulate those around him.
In some of his later plays, Shakespeare’s villainsbegin to show another human quality—remorse.In Hamlet, Claudius regrets his crime halfwaythrough the play and prays for forgivenessfor the murder of King Hamlet. In Macbeth, themain characters do not plot from the beginning
to overthrow the king and commit murder;Macbeth and Lady Macbeth merely becomevictims of fate and their own ambition. WhileLady Macbeth seems to be the stronger vicecharacter at the beginning of the play, urgingMacbeth to murder the king when he hesitatesto do so, even she cannot endure the burden ofguilt and goes mad by the end of the play.Shakespeare’s later villains are less evil thanmisguided, showing a deeper complexity ofcharacter and tendency toward selfreflectionthat Shakespeare developed later in his writing.
As Shakespeare’s first villain, Richard III continuesto delight and horrify audiences with hismachinations. Actors love to play the role, asRichard is always changing, improvising andusing his charm to get ahead. It is no wonderthat Richard III is still one of Shakespeare’smost popular plays.
James Newcomb as Richard and Suzanne Irving as Elizabeth inthe Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2005 production of Richard III.
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In Medieval England, what were the rules of succession?
In England, kings were selected based on a political and religious concept called the Divine Right of Kings. DivineRight was based on the premise that the monarch was anointed, or chosen to rule, by God. There were strict rules ofsuccession that ensured that only members of the king’s royal bloodline could become the next monarch, so that thecountry would continue to be ruled by Godgiven authority. When a king died, the crown passed to his eldest son. Ifhis eldest son died and had no children, the crown passed to the king’s next oldest son, and so on through the sons. Ifthe king had no children, the crown would go to his oldest brother. If the oldest brother died and had no children,the crown passed to the king’s next oldest brother, and so on. The order of succession stretched far beyond siblingsand children to guarantee an undisputed heir to the throne, even if the king’s entire immediate family died beforehim. According to Divine Right, any attempt to remove a proper monarch from the throne was an act against God.
If there were such strict rules about succession of kings, why were there disputes over the crown?
In 15thcentury England, the king held almost all the political power of the country. However, the political structurewas not an absolute monarchy. In 1215 C.E., a document called the Magna Carta limited the powers of the king andled to the creation of Parliament, the English legislative body. The king was required to consult with Parliament beforemaking important decisions—mostly raising taxes—which guaranteed nobles and landowners a say in lawmaking. Inaddition, the king required the support of these nobles to maintain his rule over the country. At this time, Englandoperated under feudalism, a political/economic system in which landowning nobles allowed farmers to live and workon their property in exchange for their pledge of loyalty in times of armed conflict. If the king made unpopulardecisions or was viewed as incompetent by his wealthier subjects, the nobles were able to call up armies and threatenhim with an uprising. During the Wars of the Roses, disputes surrounding the proper order of succession led to yearsof rebellion, as nobles raised armies and vied for power when dissatisfied with kingly rule. When a conqueror took thecrown, he took steps to ensure that he was viewed as the proper king according to Divine Right—which ofteninvolved killing anyone else who had a claim to the throne.
How did the dispute over succession begin in the Wars of the Roses?
The conflict began with the death of King Edward III in 1377 CE. Edward III outlived his eldest son—also namedEdward and called the Black Prince—who, according to Divine Right, should have succeeded Edward III. The BlackPrince had a son, Richard, who was the next in line for the crown. However, Richard was only 10 years old; andEdward III had two other living sons, the Dukes of Lancaster and York, who both believed that they would makebetter candidates than their nephew, the young Richard. Upon King Edward III’s death, his privy council (his advisorygroup of wealthy, powerful lords) decided that the boy should be crowned King Richard II and his uncles should actas regents, or primary advisors, until the boy came of age. The Dukes of York and Lancaster accepted the decision, butused their power to maintain regent status well into Richard II’s adulthood. In his 30s, King Richard II finally beganruling England on his own, but he proved an ineffective ruler and failed to appease the frequently feuding Englishlords. Eventually even Richard II’s own privy council thought he was a bad king. The negative opinions of the king ledthe houses of Lancaster and York to consider asserting their right to the throne.
The Duke of Lancaster’s eldest son, Henry Bolingbroke, claimed that he had more of a right to be king than Richard IIas a descendent of the eldest surviving son of Edward III. In 1399, with the support of friends and noblemen angrywith Richard’s rule, Bolingbroke demanded that Richard II renounce the throne and crowned himself King Henry IV.Finally, he threw Richard II into jail, where the former king died with no heirs. England was now under Lancastrianrule, but with a monarch many felt had violated Divine Right. (Shakespeare dramatizes these events in the playRichard II.)
Question & Answer: The Wars of the Roses
What were the Wars of the Roses?
The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars fought over control of the crown in Englandfrom 1455 to 1487 C.E. between the Houses of Lancaster and York, two branches of the royalPlantagenet family. Both families were descended from sons of King Edward III—John of Gaunt,Duke of Lancaster, and Edmund, Duke of York. The houses both claimed their right to thethrone based on their direct descendency from these two sons; on both sides, the desire forpower and disputes over the proper order of succession led to outbreaks of violence as rulerswere usurped and killed. Historians named the conflicts the “Wars of the Roses” because, duringthe wars, the Yorkists used a white rose as their badge and the Lancastrians used a red rose. Atthe end of the war, the victorious Tudor family created an emblem of a single rose with both redand white petals, symbolizing the union of the two houses and a new time of peace. In RichardIII, Shakespeare dramatizes the very end of the series of wars and the triumph of Henry Tudor.
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Henry IV
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Richard II(1377— 1399)
Edward,“the Black Prince”
(died 1376)
Henry IV(Henry Bolingbroke)
(1399— 1413)
Henry V(1413— 1422)
1st marriage,Blanche
Lancaster
Edward III(1327— 1377)
4 other Sons,who Edward III
outlived
Duke ofYork
(Edmund)
Duke ofLancaster
(John Gaunt)
(Dates indicate each monarch’s reign.)
How long did the Lancaster family rule England?
Despite the controversy surrounding King Henry IV’s rise to power, he ruled for 14years and his son succeeded him without dispute. King Henry V was a competentand powerful leader, and his wars to reclaim the French lands once held byEdward III made him popular with his subjects. (Shakespeare dramatizes Henry V’sadolescence, rise to power and reign in the plays Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 andHenry V.) Unfortunately, Henry V’s untimely death in 1422 again raised questionsabout succession when his infant son was crowned King Henry VI. Older relativesacted as regents until Henry VI came of age. During his reign, Henry VI lost allFrench lands gained by his father and struggled with mental illness. He was madeeven more unpopular by a poor attempt to make peace with France by marryingthe French king’s daughter, Margaret of Anjou. Already viewed as a weak king,Henry VI suffered a mental breakdown in 1453, rendering him incapable of rulingthe country. The powerful and popular Richard, Duke of York (grandson of the firstDuke of York), was named Protector of the Realm and ruled in Henry’s stead.Clearly a stronger ruler, the Duke of York also felt he had a valid claim to the throne because of his directdescent from Edward III’s son. He began to assert his authority in minor clashes with powerful supporters ofHenry VI. When Henry recovered in 1455 and took back control of the crown, Queen Margaret built up analliance against Richard, Duke of York, to attempt to diminish his influence.
The first battle of the Wars of the Roses broke out in 1455 when the thwarted Richard, Duke of York, raiseda small army and marched on London, meeting Henry VI’s forces at St. Albans. Richard battled bitterly withthe king’s army, commanded by Margaret. The battle was a Yorkist victory, regaining some influence forRichard, and the Yorkists and Lancastrians compromised to maintain the peace for four years. However,disputes over who would be heir to the throne continued—Henry VI had a young son, but many powerfulnobles believed Richard, Duke of York, should be the successor. The dispute broke out into violence againin 1459, and Richard was killed in the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. Nevertheless, Richard’s eldest son,Edward of York, prevailed at the Battle of Towton and was crowned King Edward IV in 1461. Edwardbanished Margaret and her son to France and imprisoned the former king Henry. (These events aredramatized in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3.)
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How long were the Yorks in power? Did the Lancaster family get the crown back?
No, the crown stayed with the Yorks until the wars’ end. King Edward IV fought some rebellions against hisclaim on the English throne, were successful. Edward IV had controversially married the widowed commonerElizabeth Woodville and, at her request, granted her large extended family titles and favors. The King’syounger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and many other nobles resented this. In 1483, King EdwardIV died from natural causes, and Richard was appointed regent for Edward IV’s 13yearold son,against the wishes of the Queen’s relatives. With this position of power, Richard punished the Woodvilles bydelaying Prince Edward’s coronation. Word broke out that Edward IV had married Elizabeth Woodville whilebetrothed to another woman, voiding their marriage and making their son illegitimate. Just crowned KingEdward V, the English no longer considered the boy of royal blood. At the request of several nobles,including the Duke of Buckingham, Richard was crowned King Richard III.
Full of turmoil and unhappiness, Richard III’s twoyear reign concluded the York’shold on the throne. Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, a noble distantlydescended from the House of Lancaster, raised a rebellion and took the crown in1485 after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richmondsolidified his claim to the throne by marrying young Elizabeth, King Edward IV’sdaughter, and uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster. (These events aredepicted in Richard III.)
So who won the war?
The Tudor family ended up holding the crown for five generations. Henry Tudor,Earl of Richmond, was crowned King Henry VII and ruled from14851509. His successors were Henry VIII (r.15091547), Edward VI (r.15471553), Mary I (r.15531558) and Elizabeth I (r.15581603), who ruled duringShakespeare’s time.
Owen Tudor,(Katherine’s
2nd husband)
MARRIAGE
Earl ofCambridge(Richard)
Edward V(1483)
Earl of Somerset(John Beaufort)
Duke of Somerset(John Beaufort)
3rd marriage,CatherineSwynford
Henry V(1413— 1422)
1st marriage,Blanche
Lancaster
Henry IV(1399— 1413)
marriageto
Katherine(French
Princess)
Earl ofRichmond(EdmundTudor)
Duke ofClarence(George)
Richard III(1483— 1485)
Edward IV(1461— 1483)
Henry VI(1422— 1461)
Margaret Beaufort
Elizabeth
THE TUDORS
Edward III(1327— 1377)
Duke ofYork
(Richard)
Duke ofYork
(Edmund)
Henry VII(Henry Tudor)(1485— 1509)
Duke ofLancaster
(John Gaunt)
(Dates indicate each monarch’s reign.)
Henry VII
In Shakespeare’s time, many people believed thatfate was determined not by a person’s actions anddecisions, but by a number of outside forces, bothnatural and supernatural. The concept of free will
was not widely accepted when Shakespearewrote his plays; most Elizabethans believed inpredetermination, the idea that God has preplannedevery event that will happen for all time. Shakespeare’scharacters often encounter a fate that is a result ofthe influence of external forces—the alignment ofthe planets, social status or even personal appearance.An Elizabethan audience would have understoodthat Richard’s physical appearance and the manyinstances of supernatural intervention in the play contributedto his demise. There was adelicate balance betweenChristian beliefs and pagansuperstitions in the 16th century.While the agents of Richard’sfate include curses and ghosts,which modern audiences mightassociate with witchcraft andblack magic, Elizabethans mayhave seen these as instrumentsof heaven or a higher power,revenging wrongs committedby the House of York during theWars of the Roses.
In 16th century public opinion,there was no separation betweenbody and soul; any defect in oneaffected the other. A proverb atthe time referenced hair color asan indicator of one’s personality:“Red wise, brown trusty, paleenvious, black lusty.” A physicaldeformity informed Elizabethansof one’s entire personality;deformity on the outside signifieddecay on the inside. Animperfection from birth, such as ahunchback, indicated a permanent and major defect ofthe soul. Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury anda powerful politician during Queen Elizabeth’s reign,was born a hunchback. His “deformity” promptedpublic criticism and ridicule. Controversy surroundinghis possible involvement in the Gunpowder Plot of1605 led some of Cecil’s enemies to claim that hiscorruption was a result of his deformity. Elizabethanswould likely have thought the same of Shakespeare’sRichard III as they did of Robert Cecil.
In the Elizabethan view, Richard’s deformity wouldhave explained not only his moral corruption butalso his ambitiousness and desire for revenge. In hisessay Of Deformity, Francis Bacon writes:“Deformed persons are commonly even withnature; for as nature hath done ill by them, so dothey by nature; being for the most part (as theScripture saith) void of natural affection; and sothey have their revenge of nature.” As Richard sayshimself in his opening speech, he is “determinedto prove a villain” because his physical appearancedoes not match the celebratory, peaceful time ofEdward’s victory. The motivation for his evil deeds
throughout the play mayhave been obvious toShakespeare’s audience: hewanted to exact revengefor his physical deformity.Richard’s deformity mightalso have been viewed as anact of divine retribution forwrongs perpetrated byRichard’s ancestors.
The historical King Richard IIIwas not actually misshapento the extent that actors andliterature have portrayedhim. There is greatcontroversy around thenature of his “deformity”—some say h e was bornprematurely, result ing ina s ic k ly ch i ldhood andpersistent weakness, whileothers claim he spent twoyears in his mother’s womband was born with hair andt e e t h . A s f o r h i shunch back , the c losestevidence found are twoconflicting accounts: onethat his left shoulder was
higher than his right, and another stating exactlythe opposite. Regardless, it is generally held thatthe deformity was probably not noticeable—mostdefinitely not the huge hump and withered arm heis depicted with now. The rumors that spread ofa much bigger deformity in the king began longbefore Shakespeare’s portrait. Shortly afterRichard’s death, the Tudors began describing himas a monster. Their motive was to pin on Richardthe deaths of the princes in the Tower, and they
Fate, Deformity... and the Supernatural
Political cartoon depicting Edmund Kean, dressed asRichard III, holding the Drury Lane Theatre on his shoulders with the caption, The Theatrical Atlas. Published inLondon, 1814.British Cartoon Collection (Library of Congress.)
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believed that an image of Richard as a horrifying,misshapen hunchback would make the crime seemmuch more plausible. Eventually the rumors wereaccepted as truth, and Richard gained the physicalappearance and reputation that is reflected inShakespeare’s play.
Another significant aspect of Shakespeare’s Richard III isthe supernatural, appearing in the forms of prophecies,dreams and ghosts. Elizabethans believed strongly inwhat we now term “paranormal” phenomena;astrology, omens and spells were a part of daily life.People often consulted the alignment of the stars andplanets before making important decisions. Villagerswho practiced “witchcraft” or “wizardry”—wise womenand men who can be thought of as Elizabethan holistichealers—were called upon to cure physical ailmentswith potions and tricks. Their use of “magic” wasrevered and feared; as often as witches were consulted,they also were blamed when something went wrongin villages. Witchhunts were common in the 16thCentury, and many innocent people were executed forwitchcraft in Shakespeare’s time.
The character of Margaret in Richard III has somedistinctive witchlike qualities. At the end of the play, thecurses she pronounced in act1, scene 3 are fulfilled. She is aselfproclaimed prophetess—eccentric, lonely and old.All of these qualities were associated with witches ofthe 16th century. Margaret is, however, lacking animportant component of witchhood: alliance with thedevil. She rather invokes God’s power in her curses: “I’llnot believe but they ascend the sky / And there awakeGod’s gentlesleeping peace” (I.iii.28788). Margaret’scurses are another instrument of divine retribution: sheis seeking revenge for her own injuries, and throughher a much larger justice is exacted. Elizabethans paid
much attention to omens and signs, including thosein dreams. Hastings disregards Stanley’s dream ofa murderous boar (representing Richard) and diesas a result. The only characters that act as aresult of supernatural warnings are Stanley and hisnephew Richmond—two of the characters alive at theplay’s end. Stanley is not the only character in RichardIII who predicts the future through dreams; Clarenceand Richard both have dreams that foreshadowtheir deaths. Clarence’s nightmare is full ofwarnings of Richard’s intent to murder him andhints at his own drowning. Although an Elizabethanaudience would have immediately recognized theintervention of some supernatural power in hisdream, Clarence is ignorant of its ramifications.Richard’s dream likewise forebodes his end. As astring of wronged ghosts curse Richard andencourage Richmond in Richard’s sleep the nightbefore the battle, Shakespeare’s audience could easilyhave predicted the outcome of the conflict.Elizabethan ghosts were omnipotent—seeing farinto the future—and they always appeared with adistinct purpose, usually involving righting a wrongdone to them in life. Although these ghosts do notbring about Richard’s death and Richmond’striumph, they foretell it, and, in discouraging andscaring Richard (and encouraging Richmond), helptheir cause. Like Margaret’s curses, these spirits havea divine, not demonic, quality; the ghost ofBuckingham wishes that “God and good angels fighton Richmond’s side.”
By the end of the play, with an heir of the house ofLancaster on the throne, divine retribution wouldhave been carried out in the eyes of the Elizabethans.Order is restored, and all have met theirpredetermined fate.
Lynnda Ferguson as Lady Anne and Stacey Keach as Richard III in the Shakespeare TheatreCompany’s 199091 production of Richard III.
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Director’s Chair
Imagine you are directing a production of Richard IIIand preparing for the first meeting of your productionteam, which includes the set, costume, lighting andsound designers. Consider the topics a director wouldwant to address in this meeting by responding to thesequestions:
• Why do you want to direct this play?
• In what timeperiod will this production occur and why?
• What are you looking for in an actor to play the character of _______?
• What locations/atmospheres must the set create?
• What does this world look and sound like?
In small groups, ask students to share their responsesand discuss the similarities and differences in theirartistic visions for the play. Challenge the students tocreate a group vision for the play, incorporating ideasfrom all the “directors.”
What Will People Do for Power?
Richard will do anything to remove the obstaclesbetween himself and the throne, and he shares hisplots with the audience as the play proceeds. Make alist of everything that Richard does—everyone that hebetrays, lies to and kills—in order to gain the crown forhimself. How many people does Richard kill to get whathe wants? Discuss what might happen to such a “ruler”in today’s world?
First Ladies — Now and Then
Medieval England was a patriarchal society. Women,even queens, did not have much power without theirhusbands. Queen Elizabeth, wife to King Edward IV,begins the play in a position of high status and power,but when her husband dies, Richard is able to imprisonand execute her family, leaving her powerless andalone. Queen Margaret, too, began her life as apowerful woman leading armies into battle against theYorks, but when her husband and son were killed, shewas left alone to curse the Yorks for the wrongs doneto her. Ask students to discuss the role of women inRichard III, compared to the role of women in politicsnow. What is a First Lady’s responsibility in moderntimes? What was a Queen’s responsibility in medievaltimes? Ask students to imagine the fate of youngElizabeth, whose marriage is arranged with Richmondto secure his political power. Ask students to write twodiary entries from young Elizabeth’s perspective, onedated during the events of the play, and one dated at atime in Elizabeth’s future. Share diary entries andcompare ideas about Elizabeth’s future life.
False Faces
Many characters in Richard III operate by seeming to bewhat they are not. This tactic is especially important inI.ii, when Richard convinces Anne to marry him, andIII.vii, when Richard “agrees” to become King. Dividestudents into groups, assigning half the groups onescene and half the groups the other. Ask each group togo through their scene identifying false statements,then brainstorming the true intentions/feelings of thecharacters who say them. Have the students play theirscene for the class with some group members readingfrom the text and others reading the characters’ “innermonologues.” Afterwards, discuss similarities anddifferences in scene interpretation.
Classroom Connections Before the performance...
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Just a Dream
Elizabethans believed dreams contained omens andforetold future events. In Richard III, Clarence’s dreamforetells his murder at Richard’s order. Read act 1, scene4 aloud as a class and identify the imagery, symbolism,metaphors and foreshadowing present in Clarence’sdream. Ask students to freewrite about a memorabledream they’ve had. Then ask students to write amonologue telling the story of the dream, utilizing vividimagery, symbolism, metaphors, coach students to referto emotions they felt during the dream, their emotionalstate while retelling the dream and what the dreammay say about what is happening in their lives. Collectall the monologues and make a dream notebook.
Genevieve Ward as Queen Margaret at theLyceum Theatre, 1896.
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Bedtime in the Tower of London
Audiences meet the two young princes with their uncleRichard right before they leave for the Tower of London.They never see the pair again or learn anything about theirtime in the Tower—except that it ends in murder. In pairs,have students read aloud from the beginning of act 3, scene1, until the princes’ exit after line 153. Then have the pairsimprovise a scene between the two boys on their first nightin the Tower. What do they think of their uncle’s reasons forsending them there? How do they feel about staying there?After the pairs have created this scene, introduce a thirdcharacter—the murderer, Tyrrel. Ask students to createanother dialogue around this new turn of events. Presentthe two scenes to share with the class.
The Tragedy of Richard
The full title of Shakespeare’s play is The Tragedy of RichardIII. What is the catalyst for the tragedy? What action sets theplot in motion? Is the story a tragedy, and is Richard III atragic hero? Would we consider him a hero in the 21stcentury? Why or why not?
Interpreting History
Over the years, there has been a great deal of discussionabout the accuracy of Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard IIIand the motives for reworking specific historical events forhis play. Have the class brainstorm the major events in thelives of one of the following figures or another historicalpersonality:
• President George W. Bush• Martin Luther King, Jr.• Queen Elizabeth I
Divide the class into groups to write a scenebyscene outlineor storyboard for a play about the life of this historical figure.Groups may take artistic license to adjust events andcharacter traits where necessary to fit their message. Haveeach group present their play to the class and discuss therole of the playwright as historian.
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Safe Violence
In Shakespeare’s plays, staging violence is very important.Certified professionals work with actors to choreographviolence that looks real, tells a clear story and maintainssafety for everyone involved. Ask students what theythought about the staged violence in the production at theShakespeare Theatre Company. What elements of thestaged violence were effective, and what, if anything, wasnot successful. Students can practice safe and effectivephysical storytelling by having a slowmotion food fight.Instruct students to split into two groups and line up oneither side of the room. Each student should imagine theyare holding a tray full of food. Ask students to be veryspecific about what food is on their tray, and experiment bypicking up different types of food (e.g. spaghetti, pudding,soup, a dinner roll, a ketchup bottle). Coach students tocross the room toward the other team, always in superslowmotion, and make eye contact with another student. Onceeye contact has been established, students can continuetheir slowmotion imaginary food fight. Coach students tostay in slow motion and tell a clear and engaging story.What kinds of engaging stories did students see theirclassmates perform? Ask students why they think workingin slow motion is important to storytelling and safety, andwhat they learned about storytelling from participating inthe slowmotion food fight.
Lets Get Critical
The director and design team for the Shakespeare TheatreCompany’s Richard III had a concept, or artistic vision, for thisproduction. Ask students to write a review of Richard III,describing what they thought the story of the play was, andhow the set, lights, sound and costumes helped to tell thestory (or detracted from it). In their critiques, students shouldselect a particular scene to support their opinions. Share thereviews in class and discuss the similarities or differences ofopinion. Collect all the reviews and send to the ShakespeareTheatre Company Education Department.
Classroom Connections …After the performance
Burial of the Young Princes in the Tower by James Northcote,engraved for Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery, 1795.
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Richard IIIBooks or Essays on Richard III and the Wars of the Roses
•Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations: Richard III. Chelsea House Publishers, 1988.
•Clark, Cumberland. Shakespeare and the Supernatural. Haskell House Publishers, 1971.
•Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare’s “Histories,” Mirrors of Elizabethan Policy. Huntington Library, 1968.
•Fields, Bertram. Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes. Regan Books, 2000.
•Hicks, Michael. Richard III (Revealing History.) Tempus Publishing, 2004.
•Kendall, Paul Murray. Richard the Third. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1975.
•Weir, Alison. The Wars of the Roses. Ballantine Books, 1996.
Books on Shakespeare and Teaching Shakespeare
•Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare. Doubleday, 1978.
•Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare. Penguin Books, 1993.
•Gibson, Janet and Rex Gibson. Discovering Shakespeare’s Language. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
•Gibson, Rex. Teaching Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, 1998.
•Kermode, Frank. Shakespeare’s Language. Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 2000.
•Linklater, Kristin. Freeing Shakespeare’s Voice. Theatre Communications Group, 1992.
•Pritchard, R. E. Shakespeare’s England. Sutton Publishing Limited, 1999.
•Papp, Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkland. Shakespeare Alive. Bantam Books, 1988.
•Reynolds, P. Teaching Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, 1992.
Websites
• Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet—shakespeare.palomar.edu
• The Shakespeare Resource Center—www.bardweb.net
• Shakespeare: A Virtual Field Trip—hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/engramja/Svtour.html
• Shakespeare Birthplace Trust—www.shakespeare.org.uk
• Life in Elizabethan England—www.elizabethan.org
• Sir Thomas More’s The History of King Richard the Third—http://www.r3.org/bookcase/more/moretext.html
• Richard III Society, American Branch—http://www.r3.org/intro.html
• Richard III Foundation—http://www.richard111.com/
• Wars of the Roses—www.warsoftheroses.com
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Resource List