Richard III - A Play for our Time
"I am determined to prove a villain"

The use of History in Shakespeare's Richard III

Shakespeare does not stick to the historical order to meet his needs for writing the drama. Many of today's history books speak a different language concerning the events described by the bard.
But as Richard III is a history play and not a history book it is certainly necessary to change some facts or events in order to get a dramatic structure.

There are some events that historically should not have been mentioned in the drama: For example Quenn Margaret should not have been played a role in the drama at all as she was captured and imprisoned after the Battle of Tewkesbury for four years. After that she went to France where she died in 1482; one year before King Edward IV's death in 1483. But Shakespeare made her a main character in the play in order to oppose Richard.

Quite interesting is the way Shakespeare moves from one moment in time to another. He compresses the historical time in different ways. The following table is meant to give you an expression of the connection between history and the drama
 

Here you can see clearly the structure of the play and how Shakespeare uses the compression of time to arrange the plot.
The most important part of the play, the third act, only covers 7 weeks of historical time. This shows that Shakespeare stresses the importance of the events of that time.

The first nineteen years of Richard's life are not mentioned in the play because they do not have any importance for the drama itself. Shakespeare concentrates on the years of Richard's rise to power. The disorder Shakespeare creates in the timeline starts in the third act beginning with the first scene which starts in May 4, 1483 where the Prince arrives in London with Richard and Buckingham. He then continues with June 13, 1483 were Lord Hastings and Lord Stanley are arrested and Lord Hastings is executed. These historical facts are described for the second and fourth scene of the third act. After that he uses historical events from June 17, 1483 for the first scene of the third act in which the Duke of York is released into Richard's custody.
The Richard III Society offers a brilliant synoptic table to trace back all events of Richard's life and of the drama.

 

HOMEPAGE	Shakespeare's 'Richard III'
PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH	Richard III and women
	Richard III the multi-faced villain
	Physical and psychological deformity
	Richard's family background
HISTORICAL APPROACH	Richard III in the mirror of centuries
	Justification of Tudor dynasty?
	History in Shakespeare's Richard III
	Guilty or not guilty?
POLITICAL APPROACH	Richard III - a modern dictator?
	Richard III the Machiavellian villain?
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