Machiavellian Philosophy in Shakespeare's 'Richard III'

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at at Shakespeare's "Richard III," but also discusses the theater and the times in which Shakespeare lived. It starts with an overview of Elizabethan theater and society, then moves specifically to theaters in London and the provinces. William Shakespeare, the man, his life and career in the theater are discussed. "Richard III" is looked at in terms of historical facts, and then the character of Richard is examined.

From the Paper:

"A history partly based on The Union of the Two Noble and Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York by the English historian Edward Hall and on the Chronicles by the English historian Raphael Holinshed. Probably first performed in 1593. First published in 1597. In this play, the first history to have a self-contained narrative unity, Shakespeare accentuated the moment of death as a crisis of conscience in which man judges himself and is capable of true prophecy. He centered the drama on a single figure who commits himself to murder, treason, and dissimulation with an inventive imagination that an audience can relish even as it must condemn it; and in defeat Richard discovers a valiant fury that carries him beyond nightmare fear and guilt to unrepentant, crazed defiance."

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