Richard III Historical Background

Richard III is one of Shakespeare's historical plays (his plays are generally divided up into three genres: Comedies, Tragedies, and Historical). The real Richard III ruled England very briefly from 1483-1485 and was overthrown, died in battle at the age of 32. Many historians mark this event as effectively the end of the Middle Ages (about 400 to late 1400s, the time before the Renaissance, Shakespeare's time). When Richard's brother, Edward IV, died, he became "Lord Protector" and Edward's two sons, Edward V and Richard, disappeared into London Tower (just "the Tower" in the play) and were never seen again--probably killed by Richard III. Henry, Earl of Richmond, defeated Richard III's forces and seized the thrown upon Richard III's death.

Richard III, though it's an historical play, is not history. Richard is presented as directly ordering the death of multiple royal people whom he views as threats to his eventual taking of the throne in the play. The truth is that he probably killed quite a few less people and was not so unabashedly evil and unpopular as Shakespeare depicts him. So one thing you may want to think about is why does Shakespeare make his main character so bad? In the 20th and 21st centuries, the anti-hero is incredibly popular (think Breaking Bad, Dexter, Sopranos, Dead Pool, American Psycho, etc.). Why are we so drawn to anti-heroes?

Some other things to consider:

• The real Richard III had scoliosis, but he probably wasn't hunchbacked and as unattractive as he is depicted in the play. Why does Shakespeare make him so ugly? 
• The boar was Richard's personal symbol. How come? 

In 1532, sixty years before Shakespeare's play in 1592, the Italian philosopher Nicccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince wherein he argued that it's acceptable and even desirable for leaders to engage in immoral acts such as lying, false imprisonment and even murder as long as the goals are "glory" and success (i.e. "the ends justify the means"). How does this play depict Machiavelli's philosophy?

Finally, any Game of Thrones fans in the class? I think you'll recognize George RR Martin's epic fantasy in Richard III which is a good example of how Shakespeare still impacts contemporary culture even 400 years after his death.