Richard III: A Critical Reader

The essays in this book about Shakespeare's "tragical history" of Richard "Crookback" Gloucester, the disgraced King of England, edited by Connolly (English, Sheffield Hallam Univ.), deal with Richard as a contradiction of king and tyrant, while also delving into more current discussion topics for reading the play, such as disability theory, where to place the piece in terms of genre, and the history of the play on film. While each essay has its own fascinating points, the volume as a whole wobbles between being a sweepingly general summary of the current criticism and a much closer inspection of esoteric themes. While some essays, such as Adele Lee's "Richard III as an Arab V.I.P." about an Arab theater company's documentary of the play, are quick reads, Rebecca Lemon's "New Directions," on the state of tyranny in medieval Britain, is a chore if it's not your chosen field. The book does end, however, with an exhaustive list of helpful resources (including many other volumes in the "Arden Shakespeare" series) to aid in teaching and investigating the work yourself.