Uncovered Controversies In Shakespeare's Richard III

Richard II was one of Shakespeare's political works depicting the rise and fall of King Richard II. Richard became king of England as a boy at 10 years of age, although his advisors made most of the political decisions of the kingdom until he matured. During this maturation period, Richard was more interested in learning about aesthetic things in life rather than things more responsible to the monarch. He had very little experience and talent in the areas of military tactics and his decisions relating to the monarch seemed arbitrary.

the play draws its readers to identify with Richard and thereby to participate in a

Richard, the main character of the Shakespeare’s play, Richard III is portrayed as socially destructive and politically over-ambitious. His destructive potential is depicted by the way he relates with the other protagonists in the play and also by what he confesses as his intentions.

Shakespeare’s plays were grouped into three categories: comedies, tragedies and histories. The histories were those plays based on the lives of English kings. Shakespeare was one of the first writers to write about English history. According to Garber, “before Shakespeare’s time there were few history plays such written in England--- England history was told in verse and prose chronicles (239)”. It’s considered that Richard II is one of the early “historical plays”. The play became so iconic that even Queen Elizabeth said that she was “Richard the second, know ye not that”. Richard II tells the story about a king’s downfall.

    According to many, Shakespeare intentionally portrays Richard III in ways that would have the world hail him as the ultimate Machiavel.  This build up only serves to further the dramatic irony when Richard falls from his throne.  The nature of Richard's character is key to discovering the commentary Shakespeare is delivering on the nature of tyrants.  By setting up Richard to be seen as the ultimate Machiavel, only to have him utterly destroyed, Shakespeare makes a dramatic commentary on the frailty of tyranny and such men as would aspire to tyrannical rule.

Authors and playwrights are often influenced by the constantly evolving society and culture around them. William Shakespeare is no exception. Being born during the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare grew up during the pinnacle of the English Renaissance and was exposed to the heightened flourish of new types of English art, literature, music, and theatre. Under Elizabeth I, English theatre became oriented towards the upper classes despite all the social classes saw the same play, they even included costume color-coding that reflected the social class of the characters. Shakespeare’s theatrical style developed during this era and when King James I became king, his style was again greatly influenced. Some of Shakespeare’s most prominent plays were written during this time and they remain well known in the literary community. In particular, his play Macbeth is widely discussed because it brings a wide array of questions with it including: What is Shakespeare trying to say about the political climate during his time and why? By reading Shakespeare’s Macbeth with a New Historicism criticism, the question can be explored and answered.

Connections of commonality and dissimilarity may be drawn between a multiplicity of texts through an appreciation of the values and attitudes with which they were composed. Accordingly, the values and attitudes of the individual being may be defined as an acute blend of externally induced, or contextual and internally triggered, or inherent factors. Cultural, historical, political, religious and social influences, dictated by the nature of one’s surroundings, imprint a variable pattern of values and attitudes upon the individual. Thus any deviation in any such factor may instigate an alteration of the contextual component of one’s perspective. By contrast, the

* Shakespeare shows the journey in Richard III of Richard himself on his dark quest to becoming king by both using his literary skills and performance to attain what he wants, ultimately being power.

Through exploring connections between Shakespeare’s Richard III and Al Pacino’s Looking for Richard the values of the era are often a product of the context of the text. However, through studying the theatricality of man and the pursuit of power, it is clear these notions transcend time and context. Shakespeare valued the way an actor could act within a play and theatre was valued in this context. Shakespeare also demonstrated how Richard pursued political power, whilst Shakespeare himself

Shakespeare used the physical deformities and the gray areas of history to create one of the most well known villains of all time. Shakespeare’s play, Richard III, is the leading voice in the Richard III story. He is portrayed as an ugly villain, an image that is fueling the way people think, talk and reference Richard III. In reality he differed as a person, but many mysteries remain unsolved. The murder of the princes in the tower at the hand of Richard III is still undecided. In more recent terms we are able to see what he actually looked like and if his physical appearance played the role it did in real life. Richard III is an unloved king by many people even though we base most of our assumptions on a play.

Macbeth is a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare. The play is set in Scotland during the mid 11th century. But, the play was written in 1606 at a time where James I was on the throne. King James was a very superstitious man who believed in magic and witchcraft and these themes were presented in Macbeth to please the King. Also the political context is important as it was included in Macbeth with the ideas of excessive ambition. On the other hand, Richard III is a historical play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1592. It presents the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England.

land in the north of England after both the Earl and Anne died. He was

Additionally, the plot of the play portrays a turning point for English history, the rise of the Tudor dynasty. In combination with Machiavelli’s tenants, the fact that Elizabeth was the patron of the arts also influenced Shakespeare’s piece. Shakespeare evidently courts the Queen with the twisted characterization of Richard that leads to her current role as Queen of England. For example, in Act V scene V Richmond exclaims,

however it was not and he had to face him in battle. "My lord he doth

Richard III is a story of a villain who will commit unspeakable crimes in order to attain power. However, it is important to remember that it is just that, a story. Shakespeare wrote to entertain, and sometimes in order to captivate an audience, history must be embellished. For example, the events the play is based on spans 14 years, although the runtime of the play seems to suggest that it all took place within a few months. Even though this play is classified as historical, it fits more in the historical fiction genre as Shakespeare bases it on actual events but takes an artistic liberty with his characters. In Richard III, due to the political climate of his time, Shakespeare characterizes Richard as ruthless