The Annotated Shakespeare series enables readers to fully understand and enjoy the plays of the world’s greatest dramatist   Treacherous, power-hungry, untempered by moral restraint, and embittered by physical deformity, Richard, the younger brother of King Edward IV, is ablaze with ambition to take England’s throne. Richard III , Shakespeare’s long chronicle of Richard’s machinations to be king, is a tale of murder upon murder. He gains the throne, but only briefly. In a terrible dream, the ghosts of his victims visit the now-despised monarch to foretell his demise. Richard’s death in battle the next day concludes his reign of evil, ushering in at last a new and hopeful era of peace for England.   This fully annotated version of Richard III makes the play completely accessible to readers in the twenty-first century. It has been carefully assembled with students, teachers, and the general reader in mind. Eminent linguist and translator Burton Raffel offers generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. His on-page annotations provide readers with all the tools they need to comprehend the play and begin to explore its many possible interpretations. “Besides the scholarly texts, these include lists of suggested further reading, essays, and more. Fab for the price.”— Library Journal Selected by the Association of American University Presses as an Outstanding Book for Public and Secondary School Libraries, 2007 “Each volume of the Annotated Shakespeare proves to be a splendid addition to the series.”—Tita French Baumlin, Southwest Missouri State University “The volumes in this series will enrich any library that stocks editions of individual Shakespearean plays. . . . Especially helpful are definitions of common words that have changed meanings over the past four hundred years.”—Judith McGowan, American Association of School Librarians Treacherous, power-hungry, untempered by moral restraint, and embittered by physical deformity, Richard, the younger brother of King Edward IV, is ablaze with ambition to take England’s throne. Richard III , Shakespeare’s long chronicle of Richard’s machinations to be king, is a tale of murder upon murder. He gains the throne, but only briefly. In a terrible dream, the ghosts of his victims visit the now-despised monarch to foretell his demise. Richard's death in battle the next day concludes his reign of evil, ushering in at last a new and hopeful era of peace for England. Burton Raffel (1928–2015) was Distinguished Professor of Arts and Humanities emeritus and professor of English emeritus at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Among his many edited and translated publications are Poems and Prose from the Old English, Cligès, Lancelot, Perceval, Erec and Enide, and Yvain . Harold Bloom (1930–2019) was Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University and Berg Professor of English at New York University. His many books include The Western Canon, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, and Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds . Richard III William Shakespeare Yale University Press Copyright © 2008 Burton Raffel All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-300-12202-2 Contents About This Book................................................ixIntroduction...................................................xixSome Essentials of the Shakespearean Stage.....................xxxixRichard III....................................................1An Essay by Harold Bloom.......................................193Further Reading................................................201Finding List...................................................207 Chapter One Richard III CHARACTERS (DRAMATIS PERSONAE) King Edward IV Edward, Prince of Wales (the King's oldest son) Richard, Duke of York (the King's younger son) George, Duke of Clarence (the King's next oldest brother) Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the King's youngest brother, later King Richard III) Edward (Clarence's young son) Henry, Earl of Richmond (later King Henry VIII) Cardinal Bourchier (Archbishop of Canterbury) Thomas Rotherham (Archbishop of York) John Morton (Bishop of Ely) Duke of Buckingham Duke of Norfolk (Northumberland) Earl of Surrey (Norfolk's son) Earl Rivers (Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville) Marquis of Dorset (Queen Elizabeth's son by her prior marriage) Grey (Queen Elizabeth's son by her prior marriage) Earl of Oxford Stanley (Earl of Derby, Count of Richmond) Hastings (Lord Chamberlain) Sir Thomas Lovel Sir Thomas Vaughan Sir Richard Ratcliff Sir William Catesby Sir James Tyrrel Sir James Blount Sir Walter Herbert Sir Robert Brakenbury (in charge of the Tower) Sir William Brandon Lord Mayor of London Tressel, Berkeley (gentlemen attendants on Lady Anne) Sir Christopher Urswick (a priest) another priest Queen Elizabeth