Richard III - study guide

Richard III was published first in 1597, and quickly became a bestseller. It was reprinted five times before it appeared as the ninth of the histories in the 1623 Folio. The folio text differs significantly from the quartos, as it includes about 230 lines that are absent from them, and does not have about 50 that do appear in the earlier texts. The play has been a theatrical success since it was first performed, probably about 1594. Richard Burbage played the title role originally, and the role has been a favorite of actors ever since. The portrait of the misshapen and villainous Richard comes mainly from Sir Thomas More’s History of Richard III (1513) and owes at least as much to More’s political commitments as to historical fact.

1. Richard is obviously a villain and yet his villainy is, if not attractive, unquestionably captivating. We watch him with fascination and no little pleasure, as he works his stratagems. Why does Shakespeare allow his villainy this appeal?

2. Is Richard, as some critics claim, ‘completely honest with himself"? Look carefully his opening soliloquy. How does this compare with the soliloquy at 5.3.179ff? Think about the rhythms of the two speeches.

3. Richard says, "I am determined to prove a villain." What does "determined" mean here? How might the two possible senses of the word affect our sense of the nature of the historical world he inhabits?

4. Richard’s wooing of Anne (1.2) is an obvious tour d’force of manipulation (indeed, "was ever woman in this humour woo’d . . . [or] won"). Why does this improbable wooing work? Think also about this scene in relation to 4.4.200-431. Is Richard successful here again, as he thinks? Is Elizabeth a ‘shallow, changing woman"?

5. What roles do women play in this play? In addition to Anne and Elizabeth, think also about Margaret and the Duchess of York.

6. What is the role of the supernatural in the play? What does the pageant of the ghosts on the battlefield do to our understanding of this world?

7. What is the point of the young prince’s inquiry about the origins of the Tower (3.1.67-77)? What do we learn about history? Think about this scene in relation to 3.6. How might the fact that no contemporary evidence exists to prove Richard was actually deformed fit into the play’s understanding of history and history writing.

8. At the end of the play, Henry Richmond is victorious, bringing Richard’s monstrous reign to an end (and bringing an end to the Wars of the Roses and bringing the Tudors to power). Is this ending compelling dramatically? What do we know about Richmond?