Don't Look to Shakespeare for Richard III

The discovery of the skeletal remains of King Richard III of England reminds us that Shakespeare’s ironic, self-delighting, witty hero-villain has a troubling relation to actual history. The melodrama came relatively early in Shakespeare’s career (1597), was popular from the start, and continues to hold audiences. Though I have attended a number of stage performances, I share the general impression that the much more vivid presentation was Laurence Olivier’s film in which he directed himself (with great gusto) as the hunchback usurper. Doubtless he enjoyed disposing of his two great rivals, Ralph Richardson, who as the Duke of Buckingham marched to the headsman’s block, and John Gielgud, as his brother, the Duke of Clarence, who is drowned in a butt of Malmsey.