1483), Shakespeare moved well beyond his sources to show Richard plotting to seize the Crown at a time when the real Richard was only a child Shakespeare also made Richard responsible for the deaths of many other major figures of the Wars of the Roses, including Henry VI and Prince EDWARD of Lancaster, and even for the deaths of his own brother and wife, George PLANTAGENET, duke of Clarence, and Anne NEVILLE.ĭespite a lack of evidence that the historical Richard had anything to do with these latter deaths, Shakespeare makes his Richard III the horrifying culmination of the grand theme that infuses the entire cycle of history plays (i.e., from Richard II through 1 and 2 Henry IV and Henry V to the four plays of the Wars of the Roses series). Although Tudor historians readily condemned Richard, especially for the murder of his nephews, EDWARDV and Richard PLANTAGENET, duke of York (d. Richard is one of the great Shakespearean villains. In Shakespeare’s portrayal of York’s son, Richard III, the selfish ambition the playwright imputed to the duke is spectacularly magnified. York did not claim the Crown until 1460, when all other political options had been exhausted and taking the throne seemed the only way to save his career and possibly his life. Although the real York was at the center of the political turmoil of the 1450s, SHAKESPEARE AND THE WARS OF THE ROSES 247 he sought to control the government as HENRY VI’s chief minister.
1460), as scheming for years to seize the throne. He portrays Richard PLANTAGENET, duke of York (d.
Shakespeare also exaggerates the greed and ambition of leading Yorkists.
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