Richard III Digital Study Guide

Study Guide written by Luisa Appolloni, Education Associate- Enrichment Focus, Education Department, Stratford Festival

INTRODUCTION TO THE GUIDE

"I am determined to prove a villain and hate the idle pleasures of these days."

- Richard, Richard III, Act 1, scene 1

While historians debate the degree to which the real Richard III may be considered villainous, Shakespeare was unequivocal when he wrote this play for Queen Elizabeth I's audience. (Her grandfather, Richmond, became Henry VII, ending the bloody War of the Roses and Richard's reign.) For today's audience, this is perhaps the most fascinating Shakespearean "history" play to watch and read. We are immediately taken into Richard's confidence at the start of the play and held spellbound as he unfolds to us his psycho-sociopathic machinations. In addition, the play offers us a rich opportunity to examine the issues from the point of view of the women through the intersectionality of justice and gender equality. Politically, they are powerless, and yet it is the women who can match Richard's verbal prowess and endeavour to bring alternative perspectives to a traditionally masculine understanding of power and responsibility. By exploring the ways in which politics, misogyny and access to power together impact the characters' experience of justice, manipulation and betrayal, students are able to look at the resonance of Richard III in the twenty-first century. In seeing the play and participating in the exercises in this guide, students can ask questions about what happens to a society built on lies, deceit and brutality, the consequences of marginalization and the complexity of power in their daily lives.

Content Advisory

Deals with issues of oppression and misogyny.

Contains depictions of violence, including murder.

Curriculum Connections

Grades 7+

Three key figures to look for in Richard III

Themes

• Evil and temptation
• Justice
• Power and responsibility/ruler and state
• War
• Jealousy, deceit and betrayal
• Manipulation, and desire
• Birth of the Tudor dynasty
• Fate and free will
• Family
• Gender
• Man and natural order
• Art and culture
• Time
  
  

A Perspective on the Piece from the Director

With Artistic Director, Antoni Cimolino

What excites you about directing this piece?

First, this play so clearly and beautifully examines the manipulation of others to fulfil one's own desires, through a character who is brilliant at doing so. At a time when politics is so much a product of manipulation and spin, it seems very appropriate. Then there's the joy of working with Colm Feore again, teaming him up with Martha Henry, Seana McKenna, Lucy Peacock and the rest of this fantastic cast. Finally, it excites me that this production will open our beautiful new Tom Patterson Theatre. It's so very rare that you get to inaugurate an entirely new theatre, never mind one as spectacular as this. I'm looking forward to that a lot.

Could you share a little bit about your artistic vision for the production?

One of the play's central themes is betrayal - not just betrayal of others who trust you, but also ultimately betrayal of yourself. There are remarkably few instances of loyalty or altruism among its characters: they're driven by self-interest, the willingness to destroy every relationship in your life in order to get the thing you want. So we need to examine those relationships in the play and make them absolutely clear, so that we understand the full extent of those betrayals.
I'm also interested in how hard it is to know the truth of a situation, and how we seemingly don't always want to know the truth. Richard uses that human capacity for denial to get where he wants to go - and Shakespeare does something brilliantly metatheatrical with it. We often say that history belongs to the victor, and Shakespeare no doubt understood that the Tudors, the family of Elizabeth I, needed to make a villain of Richard to legitimize their claim to the throne. He was wise not to endanger himself by overtly trying to correct what he must have known was a distortion of the truth for political reasons; instead, he wrote a play about the distortion of truth. He creates for us on stage the very thing that he's examining. I'm very interested in that.

For you, what stands out as Richard's most egregious act?

In Shakespeare, killing a king is bad - but the worst thing is killing children, because then you're killing the future, you're killing hope. Folklore has it that Richard murdered the "princes in the Tower": the twelve-year-old King Edward V and the nine-year-old Richard, Duke of York. Historically, we don't really know what happened to those two children, but in the play, the person who is supposed to protect them is the person who eventually has them killed. His betrayal of that sacred responsibility is Richard's most egregious act.

Is there a parallel between how Richard manipulates others and how Shakespeare manipulates the audience in the play?

One thing they share is their masterly use of language for effect. It's no accident that Richard is a plain speaker. While the worried and fearful people around him use heated and sometimes strange language, Richard just speaks head-on. It's the same with Iago in Othello. Othello may speak in beautiful language, but he always sounds like a foreigner: he's not always clear. Iago, on the other hand, sounds just like the guy you're going to meet at the pub round the corner. It's one reason why he's so effective in his villainy. Never trust plain speakers in Shakespeare. 

Does the audience get seduced by Richard? Or can you watch the play without being seduced?

There are many ways to play Richard. You can go for a fun, laughable, jokey approach, winking at the audience as if to say, "You know what I'm thinking, and you want me to do it, don't you?" Or you can have him take himself much more seriously, like Macbeth. There are a lot of choices that Colm and I are going to have to make. But any Richard has to do two things: he has to take us with him, in understanding and perhaps in sympathy, and then he has to unsettle us.

Are there aspects of this play, and of your particular production, that will resonate with things in the world today that we are maybe not seeing or that we need to re-examine?

Democracy is being sorely tried right now, and this play is about how people's trust can be abused: how democracy can be undermined and made a farce of in order to gain and keep power. So I feel it speaks very much to the world we live in today.

Are there specific production elements or other aspects of the staging of the play that audiences might find innovative or unusual?

This is the first time we've done this play at the Festival since the remains of the real-life Richard were unearthed from under a car park in Leicester in 2012, and I've been fascinated by that discovery. Though I don't want to give too much away, it will inform my staging of the play in what I hope will be a novel and exciting way.

What do you hope audience members will feel during the show? What questions do you want them to leave with? Is there anything that you hope young people might be particularly engaged by?

I want people to feel the giddiness of the pursuit of power, and I want them to understand the seductiveness of evil. I want them to see Richard and Buckingham and Richard as one of those political duos who are smarter than everybody else, who can win people over by playing together and having fun. And then I want people to see the price of that in human lives and devastation. I hope it'll inspire greater caution, so that the next time they encounter such manipulation in real life, they won't just think it's just a lark and that it'll all be OK.
I'd like them to see the danger of self-interest. If the people around Richard tried more often to do the right thing rather than the thing that benefits them in the short term, he wouldn't be able to succeed. Those small acts of morality are critical: they set up an environment that resists abuse. Evil just needs a little entry point, and then it quickly spreads. It's like water finding its way into the foundations.

PRE-SHOW DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Ask students:

• What do you expect to see on stage at the Stratford Festival? Make a list of predictions, save it, and, after the trip, revisit it to see how your predictions compared to the actual production.
• How would you define a villain? Why?
• Are there characters in film/TV/video games or in real life who are considered power-hungry? What characteristic traits do they have in common?
• Have you ever been in a situation where one person strongly held a viewpoint and then someone persuaded them to change their mind? What persuasive techniques did they use to change the other person's mind?
• Can some dreams be prophetic? Explain.
• Does a strong political leader need to be cunning and willing to do anything for the good of the people? Explain.
• Shakespeare wrote four prominent female characters in Richard III: Queen Elizabeth, Lady Anne, Queen Margaret and the Duchess of York. He wrote this play four hundred years ago. Knowing this, in what ways do you imagine these characters might be portrayed? How has the role of women changed since then? What still needs to be done in order to achieve gender equality?

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: Who is Richard?

1 class: approx. 45 minutes

Who is Richard? Quotations

Directions:

1. Divide the class into six groups. Each group will be assigned one quotation and create a tableau (pose or image that captures the essence of their lines). While striking their pose, each team will designate one member of their group to read their quotation out loud.

• I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days. (Richard - Act 1, scene 1)

•Why, this it is when men are ruled by women. (Richard - Act 1, scene 1)

• He cannot live, I hope, and must not die
Till George be packed with post-horse up to heaven. (Richard - Act 1, scene 1)

• I'll have her, but I will not keep her long. (Richard - Act 1, scene 2)

• O Buckingham, take heed of yonder dog:
Look when he fawns, he bites; and when he bites,
His venom tooth will rankle to the death. (Margaret - Act 1, scene 3)

• I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl. (Richard - Act 1, scene 3)

2. After a short period of rehearsal time (approx. 5 to 10 minutes), have the groups come together and present their tableaux to one another.

3. Afterwards, discuss with the class what they think of Richard so far. What words stood out for them and why? What do they think the play is about?

Debriefing Questions:
• Based on the quotations you have heard, what do you think the play is about?
• What quotation really stood out and made a strong impression on you? Why?
• What do these quotations possibly infer about the character Richard III?
• What questions do you have about the play?

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: The Mothers' Grievances - An Excerpt from Act 4, scene 4

2 classes: approx. 120 minutes

Act 4, scene 4 excerpt

Directions:

1. Working in small groups of three, students will read aloud together the excerpt from Act 4, scene 4. Read it several times for meaning and then read it again to discover the dramatic irony (a literary device by which the full significance or understanding of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader but not grasped by the character).

2. Listening carefully to one another, the students will underline their favourite words, lines or phrases in the text.

3. Each group will create a list of these words, lines and phrases that resonate with them.

4. Then they will create a new version of the text by rearranging them in the order they see fit. They may even choose to repeat certain words or phrases and edit out any lines.

5. Allow some time for the teams to develop their new versions.

6. When ready, have each group team up with another group to read and present their new version of the text to one another.

7. Upon completion, have the whole class come together to discuss what they discovered while doing this activity:

a. Why did you choose certain words or lines?
b. How did the new versions contribute to your understanding of the scene?
c. Were there any similarities or differences in each group's new versions?

Debriefing Questions:
• How did all the curses and prophesies impact your experience of this scene and of the play so far?
• How does the power of the women differ from the men in the play?
• Are there any indications in the text that Richard is shaken by the women's verbal assault? If so, what does that tell us about Richard? If not, what was Shakespeare's reasoning behind this?

POST-SHOW DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Ask students:
• Richard is admired by some and hated by others in the play. How is this possible?
• Why do you think Richard was able to manipulate Lady Anne and some of the lords?
• Are there qualities of Richard that you admire? Why or why not?
• How do politics and domestic matters intersect in this play?
• How did the female characters shape your understanding of the play?
• How would you describe the characters of Queen Elizabeth, Lady Anne, Queen Margaret and the Duchess of York? In what ways did their respective relationships with Richard influence their speech and actions?
• To what extent and in what ways do the women in the play expose the men's shortcomings in handling power and government?
• Richard III is a complex play. What were the key themes that stood out for you? What do you think is the play's central message? What do you think the director is trying to say?
• Would you characterize this as a revenge play? Explain.
• Does this play resonate with today's politics and gender issues? What are the similarities and differences?
• How did the production elements (costumes, lights, music and set) affect your experience?

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: Curses and Blessings - An Examination of Act 5, scene 3

1 class (approx. 60 minutes)

Act 5, scene 3 excerpt

Directions:

1. Hand out copies of Act 5, scene 3 (excerpt).

2. Have the students stand in a circle and read aloud, with each person taking a line.

3. Review all unfamiliar words and phrases, and check for understanding.

4. There are twelve central characters in this excerpted scene. However, to ensure everyone in the class gets a section to read, you may want to assign each student a part to read as follows:

Richmond A from "O Thou, whose captain…," to "Th'usurping helmets of our adversaries!"*
Richmond B from "make us thy ministers…," to "Sleeping and waking, O defend me still!"*
Ghost of Prince Edward (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Prince Edward (to Richmond)
Ghost of King Henry VI (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Henry VI (to Richmond)
Ghost of Clarence (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Clarence (to Richmond)
Ghost of Rivers (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Rivers (to Richmond)
Ghost of Grey (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Grey (to Richmond)
Ghost of Vaughan (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Vaughan (to Richmond)
Ghost of Hastings (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Hastings (to Richmond)
Ghosts of Young Princes (2) (to King Richard III)
Ghosts of Young Princes (2) (to Richmond)
Ghost of Lady Anne (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Lady Anne (to Richmond)
Ghost of Buckingham (to King Richard III)
Ghost of Buckingham (to Richmond)
King Richard III from "Give me another…," to "Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh."*
King Richard III from "What? Do I fear…," to "Lest I revenge. What? Myself upon myself?"*
King Richard III from "Alack. I love myself…," to "I am a villain: yet I lie, I am not."*
King Richard III from "Fool, of thyself…," to "And every tale condemns me for a villain."*
King Richard III from "Perjury, perjury…," to "Throng all to th'bar, crying all, 'Guilty! Guilty!'"*
King Richard III from "I shall despair…," to "Find in myself no pity to myself?"*
King Richard III from "Methought the souls…," to "Tomorrow's vengeance on the head of Richard."*
*= Divisions are underlined in the text

5. Now create two large circles: in one, the ghosts delivering their lines to Richmond will form a circle and place the Richmonds inside it; in the other, the ghosts delivering their lines to King Richard III will form a circle and place the Richards inside it.

6. Rehearse the scene and encourage the students to experiment with volume, tone, rate and how each character behaves or reacts as the scene unfolds. (Note: In this activity, the students are just reading their lines with expression, there is no need to memorize unless the instructor decides otherwise.)

7. After the final presentation, have the students discuss their findings.

Debriefing Questions:
• In what ways did the entrance of the ghosts build tension and pace in the scene? Give examples.
• How does the language of the ghosts differ between Richard and Richmond? What is the underlying impression they give about the two men? Are their curses or blessings deserved? Explain.

Please share your letters with the Stratford Festival! We would love to hear from you.
Attn: Education Department
Re: Richard III
PO Box 520
Stratford, ON N5A 6V2

Share your thoughts on Instagram, twitter, and Facebook!
@stratfest #sfeducation 

SOURCES & RESOURCES

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR RICHARD III STUDY GUIDE

SHAKESPEARE: HISTORY, CRITICISM and BIOGRAPHY

Beckerman, Bernard. Shakespeare and the Globe, 1599-1609. 1962.

Bentley, G.E. Shakespeare: A Biographical Handbook. 1951.

Boyce, Charles. Shakespeare A to Z. 1990.

Brown, Ivor. Shakespeare and the Actors. 1970.

Brown, John Russell. Shakespeare and his Theatre. 1993.

Burgess, Anthony. Shakespeare. 1970.

Campbell, Oscar James, ed. The Reader's Encyclopedia of Shakespeare. 1966.

Dobson, Michael, ed. The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. 2001.

Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare. 1992.

Frye, R. M. Shakespeare's Life and Times: a Pictorial Record. 1968.

Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage, 1574-1642. 1980.

Hodges, C. Walter. Shakespeare and the Players. 1948.

Muir, Kenneth and Samuel Schoenbaum, eds. A New Companion to Shakespeare Studies, 1985.

Nagler, A. M. Shakespeare's Stage. 1985.

Schoenbaum, Samuel. William Shakespeare: A Documentary Life. 1975.

Taylor, Gary. Reinventing Shakespeare. 1989.

Thomson, Peter. Shakespeare's Theatre. 1983.

Tillyard, E. M. W. The Elizabethan World Picture. 1943.

Wells, Stanley, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies. 1986.

TEACHING SHAKESPEARE

Asimov, Isaac. Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare. New York, 1970.

Edens, Walter, et al. Teaching Shakespeare. New Jersey: Princeton UP, 1977.

Gibson, Rex. Secondary School Shakespeare. Cambridge: 1990.

Gibson, Rex. Stepping into Shakespeare. Cambridge: 2000.

Gibson, Rex. Teaching Shakespeare: A Handbook for Teachers. 2016.

Gibson, Rex and Field-Pickering, Janet. Discovering Shakespeare's Language. Cambridge: 1998.

O'Brien, Veronica. Teaching Shakespeare. London, 1982.

Stredder, James. The North Face of Shakespeare: Activities for Teaching the Plays. Cambridge, 2009.

RICHARD III

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Arden Shakespeare 2009.

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. Cambridge School Shakespeare. 2015.

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Folger Shakespeare Library, 2004.

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Pelican Shakespeare (Penguin Random House), 2017.

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Royal Shakespeare Company (The Modern Library Classics), 2008.

ONLINE RESOURCES

BookRags.com Homepage   http://www.bookrags.com

MIT Global Shakespeares   http://globalshakespeares.mit.edu/europe/#

MIT Shakespeare Homepage: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare   http://shakespeare.mit.edu/

Shakespeare's Life and Times web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLT/intro/introsubj.html

Shakespeare Online www.shakespeare-online.com

Movie Review Query Engine www.mrqe.com

Internet Movie Database, www.imdb.com

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL ON FILM, VIDEO and DVD

1955 (UK): Richard III. Directed by Laurence Olivier, starring Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud and Claire Bloom.

1995 (UK/USA): Richard III. Directed by Richard Loncraine, starring Ian McKellen, Annette Benning and Kristin Scott Thomas.

1996 (USA): Looking for Richard. Directed by Al Pacino, starring Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, and Winona Ryder.

2008 (USA): Shakespeare's Richard III. Directed by Scott Anderson, starring Scott Anderson, David Carradine and Sally Kirkland.

2016 (UK): Richard III. (Almeida Theatre Live) Directed by Rupert Goold, starring Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave and David Annen.

2016 (UK): Richard III. (The Hollow Crown Series) Directed by Dominic Cooke, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench and Ben Daniels.

Education Program Partner

Tools for Teachers sponsored by 

The Tools for Teachers program includes Prologues, Study Guides, and Stratford Shorts.

Learn more about our Prologue series here

Study Guides for use in your classroom for select shows in our current season

Check out our Stratford Shorts and learn more about all of the shows in our current season