{"product_id":"9780007423934","title":"Richard III","description":"\u003cp\u003eRichard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591, depicting the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified as such.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe play begins with Richard describing the accession to the throne of his brother, King Edward IV of England, eldest son of the late Richard, Duke of York.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow is the winter of our discontent\u003cbr\u003eMade glorious summer by this sun of York;\u003cbr\u003eAnd all the clouds that lour'd upon our house\u003cbr\u003eIn the deep bosom of the ocean buried.\u003cbr\u003e(\"sun of York\" is a punning reference to the badge of the \"blazing sun,\" which Edward IV adopted, and \"son of York\", i.e., the son of the Duke of York.)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe speech reveals Richard's jealousy and ambition, as his brother, King Edward the Fourth rules the country successfully. Richard is an ugly hunchback, describing himself as \"rudely stamp'd\" and \"deformed, unfinish'd\", who cannot \"strut before a wanton ambling nymph.\" He responds to the anguish of his condition with an outcast's credo: \"I am determined to prove a villain \/ And hate the idle pleasures of these days.\" Richard plots to have his brother Clarence, who stands before him in the line of succession, conducted to the Tower of London over a prophecy he fed to the King; that \"G of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be\", which the king interprets as referring to George of Clarence (although the audience may later realise from Richard's love of irony that it was perhaps a reference to himself, Richard of Gloucester).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichard next ingratiates himself with \"the Lady Anne\"—Anne Neville, widow of the Lancastrian Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. Richard confides to the audience:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter.\u003cbr\u003eWhat, though I kill'd her husband and his father?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA gripping beginning to such a tumultuous tale…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe drama unfolds as Richard, the top contender for the throne, manipulates his way through the court. His best-laid plans, however, are not without their own set of challenges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Barbara A. Mowat (The Taming of the Shrew), Paul Werstine (The Two Noble Kinsmen), Sparknotes (Merchant of Venice), and Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins AU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46889225289877,"sku":"9780007423934","price":19.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780007423934.png?v=1777422850","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780007423934","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}