Richard III by
William Shakespeare
Richard III
Last in a tetralogy of plays that includes
Henry VI, parts 1,2 and 3 and Richard III
(the “Hollow Crown”).
The tetralogy portrays the struggle for power among the
Plantagenet Houses of Lancaster and York
Written c. 1591 – one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays.
Chronicle and tragedy.
Supports the “Tudor Myth” of history.
One of Shakespeare’s most performed plays.
The “Tudor Myth” of History
Presents the period of the 15th century, including the Wars
of the Roses, in England as a dark age of anarchy and
bloodshed.
Promotes the Tudor period of the 16th century as a golden
age of peace, law, order, and prosperity.
One of the founders of the tradition was Sir Thomas More,
who wrote The History of King Richard III (1513).
Richard III is presented as a deformed hunchback and
murderer, overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke at the Battle of
Bosworth Field.
Bolingbroke became the first Tudor king: Henry VII
Laurence
Olivier
Kenneth
Branagh
Anthony Sher
Ron Cook
Kevin
Spacey
Ian Mckellen