Richard III (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays) Paperback – October 24, 1995

I will not comment on the play itself for obvious reasons. This Yale edition is excellent, however, for the editor’s note, the introductory essay and the extremely extensive annotations, without which the play itself is (for me) ten times harder to understand and appreciate.

The quality of the product was perfect for my use: to have a handy, portable, easily searchable classic work on my Kindle. It was free, too, so there's little to complain about. Unlike usual Shakespeare texts for class use, however, it is bare-bones script without any vocabulary notes or even a list of the characters. Once I obtained my own synopses and other reader aides online, I could read and enjoy a very well-known Shakespeare play, one that has two famous lines--"now is the winter of our discontent..." and "a horse! a horse! a kingdom for a horse!" I will, as I have already done, go back to the free classics for my Kindle.

They can find bones but not the spirit. That was my thought when reading today’s newspaper and encountering an article describing the controversy over where the found remains of King Richard III should be interred. Yes, scientific analysis indicated his body was probably deformed due to scoliosis. However, only the master of the English language could discover Richard’s lament that ‘dogs bark at me as I halt by them’. Thus the motive for Richard’s villainous nature is established in Shakespeare’s play Richard III. Means and opportunity come easy to the royal knave whose evil mantra removes the handcuffs of restraint with the pithy observation that ‘Conscience is but a word that cowards use’. The picture is painted, the colors are words and Shakespeare is the artist.I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading the play Richard III on my Kindle e-book device. The instant access to e-dictionaries made reading Shakespeare easier compared to reading my print version where the thought process is more readily interrupted by the length of time required to look up the definition of a word. English words are the linchpins of Shakespeare’s artistry so understanding their meanings are essential to the overall enjoyment of his works.Since Richard III is historical fiction one must be reasonable in making historical judgments. I consider my following judgment of King Richard III a fair conclusion. Whereas Johnson was lucky to have his Boswell, King Richard III was unlucky to have his Shakespeare. For the rest of us, we were very lucky.

Almost A Tragedy: Richard III by ShakespeareWe saw a RADA performance of Richard III last summer on the Queen Mary 2 sailing across the North Atlantic to Southampton. I was struck by how tragic the play is even if it is supposed to be one of the histories. It reminds me of Macbeth. Richard aspires to be king the way Macbeth does. He commits crimes and must pay the price. In the end he dies defending his kingdom, again like Macbeth. Macbeth must fight the woods that come to Dunsinane. Richard cries out, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" while carrying on a battle against Richmond.In the RADA production's staging we saw underlined the ever-growing dark quality of the drama: flowers were laid on the stage by the gravestone of the newest victim. Richard's wife, Anne, grieves for her sins in marrying Richard and being seduced by him even as Lady Macbeth goes mad. The ghosts of the slain rise up against Richard in his sleep before his end while Macbeth is always grappling with witches and the supernaturalMacbeth. Of course the only reason Richard III doesn't number among the Shakespearian tragedies is because of Tudor politics. Richard was on the wrong side in the Wars of the Roses. He was the enemy of Queen Elizabeth's family. Shakespeare was forced to render the character of Richard in two dimensions instead of three.by Linda Cargill, author of Key to Lawrence

This is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare. King Richard III, as portrayed is almost unimaginably dark and cynical. This character as portrayed, as well as the play, has enthralled both actors and students of literature and the arts for centuries. If one wishes to have a basic understanding and literacy in Shakespeare, this is one of the essentials.This Kindle product is a faithful copy of the text of the play. I always use study aids when reading Shakespeare and did so here. I used the Folger Shakespeare Library and my old standby, "No Fear Shakespear". I read and studied the play prior to watching a performance. Doing that, study ahead of time, makes all the difference to me when watching any Shakespeare play performed. Thank You...

Shakespeare succumbed to Tudor propaganda when he wrote this work. On the other hand, had he not, he would have ended up a "head" shorter. This play is biggest the reason that Richard III is still remembered as an evil villain and tyrant. Blacken Richard, make him monstrous physically and evil morally, then maybe the 60+ or so people who actually had a legitimate claim to the throne that were murdered by the "Bloody Tudors" would not be noticed. But, as said before, Shakespeare wrote what the 5th Tudor (Q.Elizabeth I) & her subjects wanted to hear. He achieved his goal. Richard III the legitimate, capable and benevolent heir has suffered ever since. But, "Truth, is the daughter of time." It's only taken 500+ years.

Very good version of Richard III. I had just finished researching the Wars of the Roses from an historical point of view and found the play to be an enjoyable conclusion to latter years of the story, which Shakespeare time compressed. Some of the play makes a lot more sense when one knows the historical context, but the tragic end is easily understood, as Shakespeare develops the character well.