I didn't mean to say that the real Richard was that bad, I meant the Richard as Shakespeare wrote him, which is what drives the play. I don't look at Shakespeare's histories as being all that historical, because he was playing to the whims of the monarchs and nobles with whom he wished to garner favors. The Globe was shut down several times because of his and other playwrights' depictions of historical monarchs, and so he did his best to pander to the audience that would do him the most credit, both poor and rich alike. King Lear is a good example of this. Although Lear is a fictional character, Shakespeare suggests through the actions of that play that England should not divide its kingdom, but unite with Scotland (I believe it was), and therefore gained political favor for agreeing with the ideas of the current royals of the time. I'm not sure about the details of the politics behind it, but I know that it was politically motivated to curry favor with the royals, which I believe he did.Penelope wrote:No, no....Shakespeare did Richard III a great diservice, current thinking is that Richard III wasn't so bad.Bleached said:
with Richard as a Hitler-esque character (because, let's face it, he is dastardly enough to be seen on that level),
So when I say Richard was a monster, I mean that Shakespeare's characterization of Richard was a monster, not the factual, historical Richard. Sorry for the confusion.