Richard III (play)
The Tragedy of Richard the Third likely took shape between 1592 and 1594, a period when William Shakespeare was refining his historical narratives. This play concludes Shakespeare's first tetralogy, which includes Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2, and Henry VI, Part 3. The text entered the Register of the Stationers' Company on the 20th of October 1597 under bookseller Andrew Wise. Valentine Simmes printed the first Quarto edition later that same year. A second Quarto followed in 1598, also printed by Thomas Creede for Andrew Wise. Subsequent editions appeared with increasing frequency: Q3 in 1602, Q4 in 1605, Q5 in 1612, and Q6 in 1622. The First Folio version arrived much later, published in 1623. Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, written no later than 1592, may have influenced this work before Marlowe died in 1593.
Scholars once believed the Quarto represented a separate revision by Shakespeare himself. Modern analysis suggests otherwise, as many changes appear to be mistakes rather than deliberate edits. The current consensus holds that the Quarto resulted from memorial reconstruction by a company of actors remembering their lines. This process likely aimed to replace a missing prompt book. The Folio contains about fifty additional passages totaling over two hundred lines compared to the Quarto. Conversely, the Quarto includes twenty-seven passages of roughly thirty-seven lines absent from the Folio. Hundreds of other differences exist, including word transpositions within speeches and grammar shifts. Some parts of the Folio, such as Act III and much of Act V, were copied directly from the Quarto with little change. Errors from the Quarto found their way into the Folio because printers collated against a Quarto copy. Corrections had to be supplied from the Quarto where possible due to Folio corruptions and omissions.
Janis Lull argues that Queen Margaret gives voice to Calvinist beliefs prevalent during the Elizabethan era. She suggests individual historical events are determined by God who punishes evil with apparent evil. Irving Ribner viewed Richard's path as a cleansing operation restoring God-ordained goodness through Henry VII. Victor Kiernan noted this fits the English social perspective of Shakespeare's day regarding divine favor for England. However, another reading presents Richard as a personification of Machiavellian history as power politics acting entirely out of free will. Richard boasts of his finesse in dissembling using Scripture to cloak naked villainy. He tells the audience he is determined to prove a villain while pretending to control his own destiny. Janis Lull suggests Shakespeare uses Richard to state the tragic conception of the play in a joke. His primary meaning implies he controls his own destiny yet his villainy remains predestined. The strong providentialism of the play ultimately endorses the idea that fate overrides human agency despite Richard's assertions.
The earliest certain performance occurred on 1633 when Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria watched it on the Queen's birthday. Colley Cibber produced the most successful Restoration adaptation at Drury Lane starting in 1700. Cibber played the role until 1739 and his version remained on stage for the next century and a half. It contained lines like Off with his head; so much for Buckingham which Shakespeare did not write. The original Shakespearean text returned in an 1845 production at Sadler's Wells Theatre. Laurence Olivier starred in a famous 1955 film version incorporating scenes from Henry VI, Part 3 and Cibber's rewrite. Olivier cut characters like Queen Margaret and the Duchess of York entirely. Ian McKellen appeared in Richard Loncraine's 1995 film set in fictional fascist England during the 1930s. Only about half the text was used in this modern setting. Kevin Spacey starred in an Old Vic production in 2011 directed by Sam Mendes before touring the United States. Benedict Cumberbatch played the king in BBC Two's 2016 Hollow Crown series.
The opening line Now is the winter of our discontent appears in Parnassus plays written between 1598 and 1602 where Philomusus performs it as an audition piece. John Steinbeck titled his novel The Winter of Our Discontent using this phrase. British media popularized the expression Winter of Discontent referring to strikes in 1778, 79. The phrase My kingdom for a horse! illustrates drama and desperation after Richard falls from grace. It entered common parlance as such following its use in Act 5 Scene 4. Noël Coward included lyrics referencing Colonel Montmorency realizing his army should be mechanised with the cry My kingdom for a horse. E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote a story called The Nutcracker and the Mouse King where the Nutcracker shouts the same line. Abraham Lincoln loved Shakespeare and identified with Richard III during the Civil War. Confederate propaganda in Virginia viewed Lincoln as a tyrant akin to Richard while identifying Richmond with the play's hero. John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln on the 14th of April 1865 after playing both Richard and Richmond on stage. His final words Sic semper tyrannis echoed themes from the play.
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Common questions
When was the play Richard III written?
The Tragedy of Richard the Third likely took shape between 1592 and 1594. This period coincides with William Shakespeare refining his historical narratives.
Who printed the first Quarto edition of Richard III?
Valentine Simmes printed the first Quarto edition later in 1597. The text entered the Register of the Stationers' Company on the 20th of October 1597 under bookseller Andrew Wise.
What is the difference between the Folio and Quarto versions of Richard III?
The Folio contains about fifty additional passages totaling over two hundred lines compared to the Quarto. Conversely, the Quarto includes twenty-seven passages of roughly thirty-seven lines absent from the Folio.
How did Janis Lull interpret Queen Margaret's role in Richard III?
Janis Lull argues that Queen Margaret gives voice to Calvinist beliefs prevalent during the Elizabethan era. She suggests individual historical events are determined by God who punishes evil with apparent evil.
When did the earliest certain performance of Richard III occur?
The earliest certain performance occurred on 1633 when Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria watched it on the Queen's birthday. Colley Cibber produced the most successful Restoration adaptation at Drury Lane starting in 1700.