Shakespeare’s Richard III: A Study in Power, Language, and Fate
Shakespeare’s Histories
Introduction to Shakespeare’s Histories
Renaissance ideas of history: Shakespeare and his contemporaries did not share the belief, widely held by historians and literary critics today, that essential differences between past and present are more significant than any possible continuities. The reading of history, according to the preface to Sir Thomas North’s Plutarch’s Lives (the source of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus), makes the past present. It does this in the way it ‘setteth before our eyes things worthy of remembrance’, preserving them from ‘the death of forgetfulnes’: The history play is a characteristically Elizabethan genre, prominent during the 1580s and 1590s and markedly declining as a popular dramatic genre after 1603, in the reign of James I. As a genre, the English history play was not invented by Shakespeare. In the English histories, the materials of the play were familiar to Shakespeare’s original audience. Those coming to see the play knew the story in advance. This, of course, means certain constraints upon the author, who can’t alter facts that are widely known. But, within these limits, the dramatist is free to shape his or her materials, suggesting to the audience ways of interpreting the given facts. In the Elizabethan history play, the author is not primarily interested in historical accuracy, as a modern historian would be. Shakespeare’s plays adjust the facts of history to make a play more effective dramatically, emphasizing a pattern or bringing out conflicts of character. In Shakespeare’s English histories, there is frequently a patriotic element, which constitutes part of their appeal. Shakespeare wrote ten history plays in total, starting with King John and finishing with Henry VIII.
Introduction to Richard III
It is termed a tragedy. Richard III concludes Shakespeare’s first tetralogy (also containing Henry VI, parts 1–3). It is widely considered to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. After Hamlet, it is the longest play in the canon. Richard III is believed to be one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, preceded only by the three parts of Henry VI and perhaps a handful of comedies. It is believed to have been written c.1591. Shakespeare’s dramatization of Richard III and his reign formed the concluding chapter in a sequence of plays that recounted the events of the reign of Henry VI and the conflict known as the War of the Roses. This prolonged period of civil war was a struggle for the throne of England between the Lancastrian descendants, who took the red rose for their emblem, and the Yorkist descendants, who were identified by the white rose.
Shakespeare’s primary source for Richard III, as with most of his history plays, was Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles. It is also likely that Shakespeare consulted Edward Hall’s The Union of the Two Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York. It was written in 1592–93. Shakespeare might have also used Thomas More’s History of King Richard III.
The Play
William Shakespeare depicts King Richard III as an evil, murderous hunchback. The play begins with Richard describing the accession to the throne of his brother, King Edward IV of England, the eldest son of the late Richard, Duke of York. Richard is an ugly hunchback, describing himself as “rudely stamp’d” and “deformed, unfinish’d”, a wanton ambling nymph.” (1.1) He responds to the anguish of his condition with an outcast’s credo: “I am determined to prove a villain / And hate the idle pleasures of these days.” (1.1).
Richard plots to have his brother Clarence, who stands before him in the line of succession, conducted to the Tower of London over a prophecy that “G of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be” (1.1)—which the king interprets as referring to George of Clarence (although it was actually a reference to Richard of Gloucester). “We are not safe, Clarence, we are not safe! (1.1.).
Themes and Topics
Richard as Protagonist and Antagonist
Richard immediately establishes a connection with the audience with his opening monologue. In the soliloquy, he introduces his amorality to the audience but simultaneously treats them as co-conspirators in his plotting; Richard embodies the dramatic character of ‘Vice’ from Medieval mystery.
Like Vice, Richard can present what is ugly and evil.
The Connection Between Ruler and State
Richard III provides a glimpse of how the drama in the royal palace affects the lives of the common people outside its walls. As a history play, Richard III is at least somewhat concerned with the consequences of the behaviour of those in power and with ideas of good rulership and governance. In these ways, Richard III explores a theme Shakespeare later revisited in Hamlet and Macbeth—the idea that the moral righteousness of a political ruler has a direct bearing on the health of the state.
As a playwright in sixteenth-century England, Shakespeare had to court the favour of those in power, who literally could make or break his career. As a result, Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard III as a vile, hateful villain is partly designed to set up a glorious ascension for Henry VII at the end of the play.
Free Will and Fatalism
One of the central themes of Richard III is the idea of fate, especially as seen through the tension between free will and fatalism in Richard’s actions and speech, as well as the reactions to him by other characters. There is no doubt that Shakespeare drew heavily on Thomas More’s account of Richard III as a criminal and tyrant as inspiration for his rendering. This influence, especially as it relates to the role of divine punishment in Richard’s rule of England, reaches its height in the voice of Margaret.
The Power of Language
An interesting theme of Richard III is the power of language, or the importance of language in achieving political power. Language may not always be a necessary instrument of power, but for Richard, it is a crucial weapon. His extraordinary skill with words enables him to manipulate, confuse, and control those around him. It enables him to woo Lady Anne, have Clarence thrown in prison, blame the king for Clarence’s death, and achieve Hastings’s execution, all at very little risk to himself.
The Supernatural
For a play supposedly based on actual history, Richard III involves an extraordinary number of supernatural elements: Margaret’s prophetic curses, Clarence and Stanley’s prophetic dreams, the allegations of witchcraft Richard levels at Elizabeth, the continual association of Richard with devils and demons (for example, he is often called a hellhound), the parade of eleven ghosts that visits Richard and Richmond the night before the battle. These supernatural elements serve to create an atmosphere of intense dread and gloom that matches the evil of Richard’s inner self.
Dreams
The motif of prophetic dreams is part of the play’s larger preoccupation with the supernatural. Clarence and Stanley both have dreams that predict the future and are heavy with important symbolism. For example, Clarence’s dream involves Richard causing his drowning at sea. Immediately after it, he is drowned in a cask of wine by murderers hired by Richard. In addition, Stanley’s dream involves Hastings being gored by a boar—Richard’s heraldic symbol. Immediately after it, Richard orders Hastings’s execution.
Feminism
Margaret also represents the plight of women under the patriarchal power structure of Renaissance England. Margaret is a one-dimensional character, representing rage and pain against Richard like Queen Elizabeth.
Film Adaptations
The most famous player of the part in recent times was Laurence Olivier. More recently, Richard III has been brought to the screen by Sir Ian McKellen (1995) in an abbreviated version, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and by Al Pacino in the 1996 documentary, Looking for Richard.