Shakespeare’s Play
Historical reality (according to Halsted)
Richard & Anne meet on the road, near
Henry VI’s funeral – it is there he seduces
her
Did not meet at Henry VI’s funeral
- Richard has hideous & deformed
appearance
-
Arguments & evidence adduced by
Halsted
Chronicler of Croyland:
- corpse carried over water
- buried at midnight, in secret?
- Richard was in Kent
- Anne was a captive of the Duke of
Clarence, didn’t appear again until
September
Richard wasn’t hideous
Courted Anne by manipulating her
- Richard courted Anne in an honourable
and conventional fashion. Richard had
always sought Anne.
Anne was a hottie
Richard Killed Edward V and Richard
Neville, the Earl of Warwick at the Battle
of Tewkesbury
Richard’s actions are motivated by his
deformity and his self-hatred – “dogs bark
at me”
Agrees Anne was a hottie
Richard did not kill Edward V (son of
Henry VI) out of respect for his wife,
Anne, whom he loved.
Richard the person – he wasn’t deformed
and he wasn’t disloyal and dishonest in the
way portrayed by Shakespeare, eg. He was
loyal to his brother King Edward IV rather
than scheming against him
Richard deceives King Edward IV into
believing that their brother George, Duke
of Clarence, is behaving treasonably.
In reality, George, Duke of Clarence was
in fact treasonous. He spread rumours
about Edward having already been married
at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth
- Idea that historically, Richard had always
desired Anne is supported by the fact of
Anne’s beauty which is agreed by one and
all.
chronicler - Buck
Whately argues that Shakespeare picked
up on popular stories…
- No evidence to support accusations
against Richard
- Refers to Whately’s account of
Richard’s character
Richard (Duke of Gloucester) mistreated
his brother Edward’s wife, Elizabeth
Woodville.
Imprisonment of George, Duke of
Clarence, precedes Richard’s marriage to
Lady Anne (widow of Edward of
Lancaster).
Richard (and Anne) seem old at the start of
Richard III.
Henry VI : Takes part in the execution of
Jack Cade
Richard takes part in the Battle of St
Albans (1455). Slays the Duke of
Somerset.
Richard takes part in the Battle of
Wakefield (1460).
Woodville.
On the contrary, Richard was a great friend
of Elizabeth’s brother, Lord Rivers. They
helped Edward IV regain the throne in
1470.
On the contrary, Clarence was imprisoned
some time after Richard’s marriage to
Anne.
Richard was nineteen. Anne was
seventeen.
Richard was a baby at time/ wasn’t even
born. Jack Cade was beheaded 2 years
before Richard was born.
Richard was two years old.
Richard was eight years old.
George, Duke of Clarence, had Lord
Rivers et al killed in the Forest of Dean –
Warkworth’s Chronicle
Clarence was angered by Richard’s
marriage to Anne.