Richard III Character Analysis

The 17th century introduced the inspirational world of Shakespeare, displayed through the form of written plays and performances, and quickly became some of the most memorable stories in history. On the stages of England were where some familiar narratives and characters came alive, and where audiences had the opportunity to develop personal connections with the fables and personas they had only heard about. This was the case for Shakespeare’s Richard III, as Richard is a real historical figure that the audience were already aware of. Some people knew the details of his story and others simply had heard of his unpleasant demeanor. Regardless, the outcome was the same as they had some background knowledge and therefore their minds had some form of bias. The unique quality of Richard III as a play, was the way that Richard’s character held the power to change …show more content…
He is successful in changing the way that the audience viewed him prior to watching the play (as a conniving monster) and creating a new image for himself; as a clever and impressive accomplice. Richard creates a trust with the audience through sympathy, admiration and sharing his vulnerable inner thoughts with them, and the irony is that in many ways he is manipulating them the most. Although Richard III is a real historical figure and has a reputation for manipulated people in his real life, the manipulations of the character of Richard III are fictional and written at the hands of Shakespeare himself. This could lead one to think about how much of Richard’s manipulative personality is imagination, and how much is inspiration from his creator, William Shakespeare. Perhaps Richard wasn’t manipulative at all and we as Shakespeare’s readers and admirers are the audience being ones being duped most of