Introduction – Part 1

About the lecture

In this lecture, we begin our introduction to Richard III, focusing in particular on: (i) Shakespeare’s dramatic career up to his writing of Richard III (1592 or 1594); (ii) the extent to which the defeat of Richard III by Henry, Earl of Richmond (who then became Henry VII) was recent history; (iii) the extent to which Shakespeare presents a fictionalised account of historical events in this play; (iv) the extent to which Shakespeare’s contemporaries were anxious about political stability in the 1590s; and (v) the smoothness of the succession of James I of England that followed Elizabeth I’s death in 1603.

About the lecturer

John McRae is Special Professor of Language in Literature Studies and Teaching Associate in the School of English at Nottingham University, and holds Visiting Professorships in China, Malaysia, Spain and the USA. He is co-author of The Routledge History of Literature in English with Ron Carter, and also wrote The Language of Poetry, Literature with a Small 'l' and the first critical edition of Teleny by Oscar Wilde and others.