richard III intro

1. ELIT 17 Class 8

2. AGENDA
• Recitation
• Teams 2
• Lecture:
– History Plays
• Discussion
– Richard III
• Discussion Questions
• QHQs

3. Recitation

4. Shakespeare’s History Plays
The First Folio (1623) bears the title Mr.
William Shakespeare’s Comedies,
Histories, & Tragedies, dividing the plays
into three generic categories, fourteen
comedies, eleven tragedies, and ten
histories.
The arrangement of the plays in the First
Folio reflects the chronology of the
events treated in each play, beginning
with King John (early thirteenth century)
and ending with Henry VIII,
rather than the order of composition.

5. Conventionally, the three Henry VI plays and Richard III are
known as “the first tetralogy,” written and performed between
1589 and 1593.
 The four plays Richard II, 1 and 2 Henry IV, and Henry V,
written and performed between 1595 and 1599, are known as
“the second tetralogy.”
These eight plays treat a continuous slice of English history,
beginning late in the reign of Richard II (1398) and ending with
the death of Richard III in 1485. In each group of four plays the
action is closely linked, with characters appearing in successive
plays and explicit references in one play to events depicted in
another.
3 Henry VI begins “I wonder how the King escaped our hands,” a direct
reference to the final scene of 2 Henry VI.
Both Richard III and 1 Henry IV begin with tributes to peace succeeding
the ‘grim-visaged War’ or ‘civil butchery’ presented in an earlier play.

6. The Roman Plays
Shakespeare’s “Roman plays,” Julius Caesar (1599),
Antony and Cleopatra (1606–7), and Coriolanus
(1607–8), are classified as tragedies in the Folio, and
generally accepted as such.
These plays, based on events from Roman history,
resemble Shakespeare’s English histories in many
respects. A play like Julius Caesar, first performed in
the same year as Henry V, not only includes battle
scenes staged in a similar manner, but performs a
similar balancing act between fact and fiction,
between fidelity to a historical source and the
requirements of dramatic form.

7.  Much modern critical attention has focused on the way Shakespeare utilized his
sources in his interpretations of historical events. The characteristics of
Renaissance historiography—the narrative presentation of history based on critical
evaluations of primary and secondary source materials—is often compared with
Shakespeare's own historiographical style.
 Some critics claim that Shakespeare's attitude toward his sources was “cavalier,”
but that Shakespeare, as well as the authors of his sources, were all guilty of
drawing parallels and analogies, allegorizing historical figures, and telescoping
historical time.
 While some critics see these tendencies as “faults,” Don M. Ricks (1968) observes
that sixteenth-century historiography was not bound by modern rules of
objectivity and historical accuracy. Rather, it was understood that historical data
should be presented in a way that made a subjective and moralistic argument.
Historical Accuracy

9. SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III
• Richard III is a history play by William
Shakespeare, believed to have been written in
approximately 1591.
• It depicts the bloody rise to power and
subsequent short reign of Richard III of
England.
• After Hamlet, it is the longest play in
the canon and is the longest of the First Folio,
whose version of Hamlet is shorter than
its Quarto counterpart.
• The earliest certain performance occurred
on 16 or 17 November 1633,
when Charles I and Queen Henrietta
Maria watched it on the Queen's birthday.

10. Who are the major
players in Richard III?
Let me
ask you!

11. MAIN CHARACTERS
• Richard - Also called the duke of Gloucester, and
eventually crowned King Richard III. Deformed in
body and twisted in mind, Richard is both the central
character and the villain of the play. He is evil,
corrupt, sadistic, and manipulative, and he will stop at
nothing to become king.
• Buckingham - Richard’s right-hand man in his
schemes to gain power. The duke of Buckingham is
almost as amoral and ambitious as Richard himself.
• King Edward IV - The older brother of Richard and
Clarence, and the king of England at the start of the
play.

12. MAIN CHARACTERS
• Clarence - The gentle, trusting brother born between Edward and
Richard in the York family. Richard has Clarence murdered in order
to get him out of the way. Clarence leaves two children, a son and
a daughter.
• Queen Elizabeth - The wife of King Edward IV and the mother of
the two young princes (the heirs to the throne) and their older
sister, young Elizabeth.
• Anne - The young widow of Prince Edward, who was the son of
the former king, Henry VI. Lady Anne hates Richard for the death
of her husband, but for reasons of politics—and for sadistic
pleasure—Richard persuades Anne to marry him.

13. MAIN CHARACTERS
• Margaret - Widow of the dead King Henry
VI, and mother of the slain Prince Edward.
She is embittered and hates both Richard
and the people he is trying to get rid of, all
of whom were complicit in the destruction
of the her family, the Lancasters.
• The princes - The two young sons of King
Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth, their
names are actually Prince Edward and the
young duke of York, but they are often
referred to collectively.

14. What is the Plot thus
far in Richard III?
Let me
ask you!

15. THE STORY
• After a long civil war between the royal
family of York and the royal family of
Lancaster, England enjoys a period of peace
under King Edward IV and the victorious
Yorks.
• But Edward’s younger brother, Richard,
resents Edward’s power and the happiness
of those around him.
• Malicious, power-hungry, and bitter about
his physical deformity, Richard begins to
aspire secretly to the throne—and decides
to kill anyone he has to in order to become
king.

16. Richard turns the king against the third
brother, the duke of Clarence (whose given
name is George) by telling the king of an
ancient prophecy that his issue will be
disinherited by one of the royal line whose
name begins with the letter G. Clarence is
immediately arrested and taken to the Tower.
Richard goes to him, pretending sympathy,
and advises him that the jealousy and hatred
of Queen Elizabeth are responsible for his
imprisonment. After promising to help his
brother secure his freedom, Richard gives
orders that Clarence be stabbed in his cell and
his body placed in a barrel of malmsey wine.

17. Hoping to fortify his position, Richard then
makes plans to marry Lady Anne, the widow
of Prince Edward, the former Prince of Wales
whose father is the murdered Henry VI.
Edward was slain by Richard and his brothers
after the battles ended, and Lady Anne and
Henry’s widow, Queen Margaret, were the
only remaining members of the once powerful
House of Lancaster still living in England.
Intercepting Lady Anne at the funeral
procession of Henry VI, Richard attempts to
woo her. Although she hates and fears her
husband’s murderer, she is persuaded to
accept an engagement ring when Richard
insists that it is for love of her that he
murdered her husband.

18. Richard goes to the court, where Edward IV
lies ill. There, he affects great sorrow and
indignation over the news of the death of
Clarence, thereby endearing himself to Lord
Hastings and the duke of Buckingham, who
were friends of Clarence. He insinuates that
Queen Elizabeth and her followers turned the
wrath of the king against Clarence, which
brought about his death. Richard manages to
convince everyone except Queen Margaret,
who knows well what really happened. Openly
accusing him, she attempts to warn
Buckingham and the others against Richard,
but they ignore her.

19. Edward IV, ailing and depressed, tries
to make peace among the factions in
his realm, but he dies before he can
accomplish this goal. His son, Prince
Edward, is sent for from Ludlow to
take his father’s place. At the same
time, Richard imprisons Lord Grey,
Lord Rivers, and Lord Vaughan, who
are followers and relatives of the
queen, and has them executed.
End of Act 2

20. THE ANTI-
HERO
Shakespeare’s Richard III is unique
among his literary characters, in that he
is the main villain, but also the main
character.
He admits to the audience at the
beginning that he is amoral, and a
villain, but the audience sympathizes
with him due to his deformity and his
quick wit.
Audiences cringe at the depths of his
wickedness, but also marvel at the
expertness with which he manipulates
events to his advantage. His drive and
unquenchable spirit is admirable, even
when his methods are evil.

21. RICHARD III
ON FILM
There have been several films made
of Richard III – the first being in
1908! Other notable adaptions
include these:
• 1955 film with Lawrence Olivier
• 1983 BBC television adaption
(complete)
• An animated 30-minute adaption
• And a 1995 film set in Nazi
Germany during WWII, with Ian
McKellen as Richard
• Comedy troupe Monty Python
also parodied the mincing,
hunchbacked character of
Richard III in a “Hospital for Over-
Acting” sketch!

22. Activity
The opening speech is
one of the most famous
monologues in Richard
III, so we are going to
perform it.
Practice in your groups,
rotating speakers for each
line.
Monologue-a long speech by one
character in a play

23. 1. Now is the winter of our discontent
2. Made glorious summer by this son of York,
3. And all the clouds that loured upon our house
4. In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
5. Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,
6. Our bruisèd arms hung up for monuments,
7. Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
8. Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
9. Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled
front;
10. And now, instead of mounting barbèd steeds
11. To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
12. He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber
13. To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
RICHARD Richard III, Act 1, Scene 1

24. 14. But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
15. Nor made to court an amorous looking glass;
16. I, that am rudely stamped and want love’s majesty
17. To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
18. I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion,
19. Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
20. Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time
21. Into this breathing world scarce half made up,
22. And that so lamely and unfashionable
23. That dogs bark at me as I halt by them—
24. Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
25. Have no delight to pass away the time,
26. Unless to see my shadow in the sun
27. And descant on mine own deformity.

25. 28. And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
29. To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
30. I am determinèd to prove a villain
31. And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
32. Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
33. By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
34. To set my brother Clarence and the King
35. In deadly hate, the one against the other;
36. And if King Edward be as true and just
37. As I am subtle, false, and treacherous,
38. This day should Clarence closely be mewed up
39. About a prophecy which says that “G”
40. Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be.

26. What is Richard
telling the audience
in these opening
lines?
Let me ask
you!

27. "Now is the winter of our
discontent" - Richard III by William
Shakespeare
With Laurence Olivier
as King Richard
Run time 5:32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDxnXgYPnKg

28. In
Groups
• Discuss your
answers to
the
homework
questions
and your
QHQs.

29. Sir Thomas More
Shakespeare based his Richard III on the writings
of Sir Thomas More author of Utopia. As a
courtier to Henry VIII (the son of Henry VII,
founder of the Tudor royal line – Richmond in
our play), More presented Richmond and his
allies in the best possible light. As a playwright
under Henry VIII’s daughter, Elizabeth I, William
Shakespeare kept up with tradition of glorifying
the Tudors and painting their enemies as evil.
Since the Tudor line had both Yorkists and
Lancastrians – the adversaries in the “Wars of
the Roses”– in its ancestry, neither branch is
particularly depraved in Shakespeare’s version of
history. Only Richard, the rejected scion of the
Yorkist side is truly evil. Shakespeare’s Richard is
not the true Richard of history, but the Richard
of Thomas More and the Tudors.
1. Shakespeare based his
Richard III on the
writings of Sir Thomas
More. After reading both
Thomas More and
Horace Walpole, who do
you find more credible?
Why?
2. How might More (and
Shakespeare) have
answered Walpole’s
questions?

30. • On September 12, 2012, a gravesite was
found beneath a excavated parking lot in
Leicester, England.
• The skeleton had a severely curved spine, a
metal arrow in his back, and several blows
to the back of the skull.
• After extensive DNA and carbon testing, it
was announced on February 4, 2013, that it
was the long-lost gravesite of Richard III,
who had died in the Battle of Bosworth in
1485.
• Scientists reconstructed his face from the
skull, and his bones are interred in the
Leicester Cathedral.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nExmaclO8Z
Y
Anthony Carboni and Adam Sessler, President of
TheoryHead, Inc. a consultancy firm for
entertainment and media, talk about the
discovery of Richard III grave. 5:32

31. It is important, in Richard III, for the
audience to understand what the
Elizabethan audience would have
known. Read Act 1, scene 1, lines 148-
166 and analyze Shakespeare’s
strategies for telling the audience of
both what has already happened and
the schemes Richard has devised. Does
it seem forced or is it smoothly
revealed?

32. Act 1 Scene 1 Lines 148-166

33. The Wooing Scene
Richard’s wooing scene is in Act 1,
Scene 2 lines 72 to 244. How
effective is it? Analyze his
arguments and his ability to mask
evil under the guise of piety. Name
key moments that push his
agenda. Why is Lady Anne
susceptible to his wooing?
Film clip on the next slide

34. Richard’s Wooing scene
Filmed for Shakespearean London Theatres
Shalt.org.uk
Begins Act 1 Scene 2 line 64 runtime 7:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-2L5in5Q68

35. Read Richard III: Acts 3, 4, and 5
Post #8
1. What is the impact of the visits of the ghosts to Richard? See
act 5, Scene 3, lines 139-188.
2. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience understands the
real significance of a character’s words or actions but the
character or those around him or her do not. Examine these
moments of dark comedy and comment on how and why they
work in the play. Look at the scene between Richard and
Clarence (Act 1 Scene 1) and also in Act 3 scene 2, when
Catesby suggest that Richard should be crowned king in lieu
of the Prince of Wales. There are several other scenes to
choose from.
3. Ambition conjoined with an inherently evil nature cause
Richard to embrace the role of villain, but he plays the part so
fully that he eventually wreaks havoc on himself. Look at
Scene 5, Act 3, lines 194-203. What is the purpose of these
lines. What do we learn about Richard’s state of mind.
4. QHQ