I’m taking a Shakespeare class this semester, and it’s turning out to be one of my hardest classes, but my favorite class as well. Each week, we read a Shakespeare play, and I fall deeper in love with Shakespeare’s writing. This week we read my favorite Shakespeare play to date; Richard III.
Let me first give you a summary of Richard III before I tell you why I loved it. Richard III is set after the War of the Roses and right before Henry VII takes the throne and begins the Tudor rule. The begins rights after the Yorks have taken the throne away from the Lancasters, and Henry VI is king. His brother, Richard, plots through the entire play to gain the kingship. He kills his other brother, Clarence, his neice and nephews, and lots more of people to eventually gain the throne. But his cruel acts act against when Henry(who will become Henry VII), gathers an army and defeats Richard.
This play is based off a true story, even though Shakespeare doesn’t stick to how history actually played out exactly. I love the history of the Tudor family, and had never read much at all about the War of the Roses before reading this play. It interested me a lot because there was a family torn a part because of a everyone wishing for power. Richard falls into this plot in the play and makes so many terrible mistakes by killing a ton of people who did not deserve to be killed.
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I would suggest reading this play if you are really interested in England’s royal families and the War of Roses. Richard is a very interesting character. Be warned though, that this play is extremely hard to read, not just because it is written by Shakespeare, but also because there are so many characters and history that you must be cognizant of in order to fully understanding what is going on. Also there a slur of Edwards and Henrys, so good luck! HAPPY READINGS!
thereader1991 