Richard III (Folger Shakespeare Library)
by William Shakespeare
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Book Summary Information
Author: William ShakespeareEditor: Barbara A. Mowat
Editor: Paul Werstein
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-06-22
ISBN: 0743482840
Number of pages: 369
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780743482844
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
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Book Reviews of Richard III (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Book Review: Shakespeare's Greatest Sociopath
Summary: 5 Stars
You could put together a real rogue's gallery of memorable villains from Shakespeare's plays: Iago, Lady MacBeth, Claudius, Regan and Goneril. Yet can any compare to that master of mischief, Richard III?
It's the 1480s, and England's bitter War of the Roses is finally at an end. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, remains sore. He may have helped his brother Edward to the throne, but now he wants it all. So he plots to do away with his brothers, nephews, and all else in his path. Yet his success will prove his undoing in this complicated morality tale.
One of Shakespeare's great political plays, written when he was just starting out as a playwright circa 1591, "Richard III" is even more dynamic and gripping as a character study. To me, the two key scenes in tracing Richard's character are dialogues with two women, Lady Anne in Act I and Queen Elizabeth in Act IV.
In the first instance, we see a fiend working at the top of his game. He has just slain Anne's husband and father-in-law. Now he offers her his hand in marriage. Anne is initially hostile to say the least, but Richard is so smooth and crafty, lying that he killed them because of his jealous love for her, that she leaves with a soft maybe that will turn to yes. "I'll have her, but I will not keep her long" he chuckles after.
In the second instance, Richard has disposed of Anne and is in search of a replacement. Now king, he is somehow less assured, and approaches Elizabeth far less craftily, asking her to help in the wooing of Elizabeth's daughter (and Richard's own niece) by playing not to her feelings but to her practical interests. Elizabeth plays Richard off so well here, one has to ask if it's the same man we watched work his evil magic on Anne.
It is, and I think this is what makes "Richard III" so great, beyond the fantastic language, satisfying comeuppances, and the luminous brutality of the main character. He's really not in it for the crown, but the evil he can do in pursuit of the crown. Hurting people, whether for gain or revenge, is his only joy in life, and his appetite proves his ruin. Centuries before modern psychology, Shakespeare seemed to have a handle on the concept of pathology and the criminal mind.
That the real Richard III was not such a character is hard to hold against this play. It's too close to perfect in its construction. About the only thing to be said against it are that the scenes not involving Richard go on a bit too long in parts, though even the sometimes tiresome Queen Margaret, who inveighs against Richard and his future victims, provides a sense of cosmic destiny fulfilled that makes re-reading especially pleasurable.
Despite being one of Shakespeare's longest plays, there little real fat here, and much to enjoy. With one of literature's most beguilingly twisted figures in the driver's seat, "Richard III" is a play that withstands the buffets of time and provides pleasure in its many convolutions.
Summary of Richard III (Folger Shakespeare Library)
? Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
? Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
? Scene-by-scene plot summaries
? A key to famous lines and phrases
? An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
? An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
? Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books
Essay by Phyllis Rackin
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.
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