Richard III in Shakespeare and History

Paper Summary:

This paper compares and contrasts the historical from the literary Richard III, as portrayed by Shakespeare. There is a brief description of each portrayal as well as a short analysis of the two together. The representation by Shakespeare shows the villain-hero to be one that we both adore and abhor at the same moment, but the real Richard III was just as fascinating in his ability to twist the royal line to make himself king.

From the Paper:

"Being so repulsive, Richard learned to use beautiful words and delicate language to disguise his face and to gain the trust and love of others by speaking sweetly to them. Lady Anne, mourning over the corpse of her father-in-law, was won over by his honeyed tongue. Richard not only slew her father-in-law, King Henry VI, but he murdered Anne's husband, Prince Edward, on the battlefields as well. Richard convinces Anne that it was her beauty that forced him into killing her beloved family. Anne, so swept up by his voice and, perhaps with the sight of an empty future, ends her resistance, stays her curses of him, and agrees to become his wife."

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