Richard III

William Shakespeare · c. 1593 CE · Play · English · Renaissance

The Duke of Gloucester opens by telling the audience he is determined to prove a villain, then works through brothers, nephews and allies toward the throne, courting a widow over the corpse of the man he killed. Every step is explained to us before it is taken, so that watching starts to feel like agreeing. The seductive monster who charms the audience into complicity while butchering his way to the crown.

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Lineage

• ↑ Henry VI, Part 3
  William Shakespeare · c. 1592 CE · Play — prefigures this
• prefigures ↓ Macbeth
  William Shakespeare · c. 1606 CE · Play
• ↓ Richard II
  William Shakespeare · c. 1595 CE · Play — shares sources with this
• ↓ Henry VIII
  William Shakespeare · c. 1613 CE · Play — continues this
• ↓ King John
  William Shakespeare · c. 1596 CE · Play — shares sources with this
• ↓ Richard III
  Laurence Olivier · 1955 CE · Film — adapts this
• ↓ Boris Godunov
  Alexander Pushkin · 1831 CE · Play — modeled on this
• ↓ The Winter of Our Discontent
  John Steinbeck · 1961 CE · Novel — takes its title from this

Attributes

Closest analogues

• Richard III
  Laurence Olivier · 1955 CE · Film

  82% · 18 shared
  HistoricalTragedyPoliticalPower & CorruptionAmbition & HubrisGuilt & ConscienceBetrayalVillain / TyrantTricksterRise and FallTragic ReversalThe CrownThe Ghostvs Personvs SelfTragicIronicEnglish
• Boris Godunov
  Alexander Pushkin · 1831 CE · Play

  68% · 16 shared
  PlayHistoricalTragedyPoliticalPower & CorruptionAmbition & HubrisGuilt & ConscienceShadowTricksterRise and FallThe CrownThe Ghostvs Personvs SelfTragicIronic
• Macbeth
  William Shakespeare · c. 1606 CE · Play

  55% · 14 shared
  PlayTragedyPoliticalPower & CorruptionAmbition & HubrisGuilt & ConscienceRenaissanceShadowTragic ReversalThe Ghostvs SelfTragicGothicEnglish
• Edward II
  Christopher Marlowe · c. 1592 CE · Play

  55% · 14 shared
  PlayHistoricalTragedyPoliticalPower & CorruptionBetrayalRenaissanceVillain / TyrantRise and FallTragic ReversalThe Crownvs PersonTragicEnglish
• Britannicus
  Jean Racine · 1669 CE · Play

  54% · 13 shared
  PlayHistoricalTragedyPoliticalPower & CorruptionBetrayalVillain / TyrantRise and FallTragic ReversalThe Crownvs Personvs SelfTragic
• Julius Caesar
  Joseph L. Mankiewicz · 1953 CE · Film

  54% · 12 shared
  HistoricalTragedyPoliticalPower & CorruptionBetrayalRise and FallTragic ReversalThe CrownThe Ghostvs PersonTragicIronic