King Richard III provides a portrait of Shakespeare''s most enduring arch-villain, a man who plots against his brothers, nephews, friends and the powerful women in his life, including Lady Anne, Queen Margaret and Queen Elizabeth. This influential history play almost displaces the original historical figure it represents as it traces Richard''s rise to the throne in 15th century England. Disability and masculine villainy characterise nearly all performances of Richard III, spotlighting early modern and contemporary prejudice about their equivalence. This edition challenges the centrality of Richard as absolute villain who casts all others in his shadow, making space for the formidable women who oppose him. Exploring overlooked sources of influence, from Tacitus to St Paul, witchcraft to racialisation, and the possibility of Queen Elizabeth I watching a courtly performance of Richard III , this edition highlights what endures and what transforms in a play about the ruthlessness of narcissistic despotism. The Arden Shakespeare Fourth Series King Richard III provides: - A critical introduction to the play''s textual, cultural and performance history - An edition that reassesses the complex textual history of the Quarto and Folio texts - Detailed on-the-page notes explaining language, character and performance - A clear page layout with an easy-to-read font and single-column notes - Images of relevant productions, paintings and texts The Arden Shakespeare Fourth Series includes a new edition of every Shakespeare play, the poems and sonnets. Each volume is edited afresh by a leading scholar specialising in cutting-edge research on performance, gender, sexuality and race. These editions cover everything you need to know as a student, teacher, researcher, theatre-maker and performer of Shakespeare''s works today.

Autorentext
Sonia Massai is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy, and Visiting Professor of Shakespeare Studies at King's College London, UK. With Amy Lidster, she is co-editor of Shakespeare at War: A Material History **(2023) and co-curator of the Shakespeare and War exhibition at the National Army Museum (October 2023 April 2024). Her other publications include her books on Shakespeare's Accents: Voicing Identity in Performance **(2020) and Shakespeare and the Rise of the Editor (2007), her collections of essays on Hamlet for the Arden Shakespeare 'State of Play' series (The Arden Shakespeare, 2021), on Ivo van Hove **(Methuen Drama, 2018), Shakespeare and Textual Studies (2015) and on World-Wide Shakespeares (2005), and critical editions of The Paratexts in English Printed Drama to 1642 (2014) and John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore for Arden Early Modern Drama (The Arden Shakespeare, 2011). William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English dramatist, poet, and actor, generally regarded as the greatest playwright of all time.

Klappentext
**King Richard III **provides a portrait of Shakespeare's most enduring arch-villain, a man who plots against his brothers, nephews, friends and the powerful women in his life, including Lady Anne, Queen Margaret and Queen Elizabeth.

This influential history play almost displaces the original historical figure it represents as it traces Richard's rise to the throne in 15th century England. Disability and masculine villainy characterise nearly all performances of Richard III, spotlighting early modern and contemporary prejudice about their equivalence. This edition challenges the centrality of Richard as absolute villain who casts all others in his shadow, making space for the formidable women who oppose him.

Exploring overlooked sources of influence, from Tacitus to St Paul, witchcraft to racialisation, and the possibility of Queen Elizabeth I watching a courtly performance of Richard III, this edition highlights what endures and what transforms in a play about the ruthlessness of narcissistic despotism.

The Arden Shakespeare Fourth Series King Richard III provides:

• A critical introduction to the play's textual, cultural and performance history
• An edition that reassesses the complex textual history of the Quarto and Folio texts
• Detailed on-the-page notes explaining language, character and performance
• A clear page layout with an easy-to-read font and single-column notes
• Images of relevant productions, paintings and texts

The Arden Shakespeare Fourth Series includes a new edition of every Shakespeare play, the poems and sonnets. Each volume is edited afresh by a leading scholar specialising in cutting-edge research on performance, gender, sexuality and race. These editions cover everything you need to know as a student, teacher, researcher, theatre-maker and performer of Shakespeare's works today.

Inhalt

Introduction

List of Illustrations
General Editors' Preface
How to Use This Edition
Acknowledgements

• Where to Start? The "Richard III Effect" and Its Discontents
• The Dig: Richard and Disability
• The Rib: Lady Anne and Female Agency (I)
• The Hag: Richard's Witches and Female Agency (II)
• The Hog: Richard as Tacitean and Pauline Anti-Type
• The Hype: Readying Richard III for the Court of Elizabeth I
• The (Bare) Bones: Shakespeare's Direct Sources, or, What the 'Lost' Richard III May Have Looked Like
• Dating the (Textual) Remains: A Timeline for Richard III
• Analysing the (Textual) Remains: The Provenance of Q1 and F Richard III
• Afterlife: Or, The bloody dog is (not) dead

King Richard III

Bibliography

Index