Richard lll is a historical play written by William Shakespeare. The main character, King Richard lll, is known to be manipulative and kills all who dare to stand between him and his throne.
King Richard lll is also described as extremely disabled in the play which creates many disagreements about who he actually was, and who should play the part.
Richard lll was a real king who ruled for only two years before being killed in battle, but scientists only recently discovered his body underneath a car park in Leicester in 2012.
The unearthing of his remains provided valuable information about his life. It told us King Richard lll might not have been as wicked as people thought.
“The discovery of Richard III’s body demonstrated unequivocally that he was indeed severely disabled,” said Dr José A Pérez Díez, lecturer in Early Modern Drama in the School of English at the University of Leeds and deputy co-chair of the British Shakespeare Association. “His pronounced scoliosis must have affected his mobility and physical posture quite considerably. Still, he was the last English king to die on the battlefield, not just commanding his troops, but physically engaged in combat. This really tells us of a person who was determined to overcome his disability in the pursuit of his military and political career.”
Further examination of Richard’s skeleton proved Shakespeare’s depiction to be true.
“The archaeological discovery also tells us that Tudor depictions of Richard III as a ‘crookback’ were physically accurate,” Dr Pérez Díez confirmed, though stressed the point that “Shakespeare wrote a fictional character who is also disabled, but whose malicious personality may have nothing to do with the real Richard.”
Evil people usually have a reason for acting how they do. For Richard, everyone in the play insults and verbally abuses him. His future wife even calls him a “lump of foul deformity”.
Society does not accept Richard because of his deformities, so he developed his hatred and suspiciousness towards everyone.
Since Richard is a disabled character, many people wonder if only people with disabilities should be casted to play Richard.
Many big-name, non-disabled actors have played the role of Richard, including Mark Rylance, Kevin Spacey, Ralph Fiennes and Sir Ian McKellen that used questionable props or CGI to make it seem like they are disabled.
Arthur Hughes, born with radial dysplasia which affects his right arm and is playing King Richard lll in a UK production, stated “Richard is written as disabled, so let’s give disabled actors this rich character. Every disability, every disabled actor, will bring something unexpected and new, a different depth that you just won’t get from a non-disabled actor.”
Sources:
Why Shakespeare’s Richard III became a controversial villain – Rodina News
Richard III Was England’s Most Twisted King (msn.com)
King Richard lll is also described as extremely disabled in the play which creates many disagreements about who he actually was, and who should play the part.
Richard lll was a real king who ruled for only two years before being killed in battle, but scientists only recently discovered his body underneath a car park in Leicester in 2012.
The unearthing of his remains provided valuable information about his life. It told us King Richard lll might not have been as wicked as people thought.
“The discovery of Richard III’s body demonstrated unequivocally that he was indeed severely disabled,” said Dr José A Pérez Díez, lecturer in Early Modern Drama in the School of English at the University of Leeds and deputy co-chair of the British Shakespeare Association. “His pronounced scoliosis must have affected his mobility and physical posture quite considerably. Still, he was the last English king to die on the battlefield, not just commanding his troops, but physically engaged in combat. This really tells us of a person who was determined to overcome his disability in the pursuit of his military and political career.”
Further examination of Richard’s skeleton proved Shakespeare’s depiction to be true.
“The archaeological discovery also tells us that Tudor depictions of Richard III as a ‘crookback’ were physically accurate,” Dr Pérez Díez confirmed, though stressed the point that “Shakespeare wrote a fictional character who is also disabled, but whose malicious personality may have nothing to do with the real Richard.”
Evil people usually have a reason for acting how they do. For Richard, everyone in the play insults and verbally abuses him. His future wife even calls him a “lump of foul deformity”.
Society does not accept Richard because of his deformities, so he developed his hatred and suspiciousness towards everyone.
Since Richard is a disabled character, many people wonder if only people with disabilities should be casted to play Richard.
Many big-name, non-disabled actors have played the role of Richard, including Mark Rylance, Kevin Spacey, Ralph Fiennes and Sir Ian McKellen that used questionable props or CGI to make it seem like they are disabled.
Arthur Hughes, born with radial dysplasia which affects his right arm and is playing King Richard lll in a UK production, stated “Richard is written as disabled, so let’s give disabled actors this rich character. Every disability, every disabled actor, will bring something unexpected and new, a different depth that you just won’t get from a non-disabled actor.”
Sources:
Why Shakespeare’s Richard III became a controversial villain – Rodina News
Richard III Was England’s Most Twisted King (msn.com)
