King Richard III is a pivotal, bold stride towards the creation of the Shakespearean myth, the creation of character and the human.
Literature was never the same again after Richard III.
We go deep into the history, politics, language, and themes of Richard III, chartering Shakespeare’s influence and the time in which he was writing – a time in which it was dangerous indeed to criticise the king! We also talk about why to read Shakespeare, how to read Shakespeare (with some unconventional tips), and why most people feel they don’t “get” Shakespeare.
This has been my personal favourite podcast episode to date, so I hope you enjoy it too. Check out the topic timestamps below the player.
Shakespeare’s King Richard III – Hardcore Literature Podcast
“Shakespeare reads you more clearly than you can read him.” – Harold Bloom
- 0:40 – Shakespeare challenge
- 2:30 – Why read Shakespeare
- 7:30 – the academic hit job on Shakespeare
- 8:35 – what was Shakespeare’s first play?
- 8:55 – the tetralogy of English histories (Henry VI 1, 2, 3 + Richard III)
- 11:00 – my IMDB-style ranking of the Henry VI plays
- 11:30 – Marlowe and Shakespeare’s inventing/experimenting ground
- 13:00 – what was Shakespeare the man like?
- 13:25 – the anxiety of influence (Harold Bloom’s theory of poetry)
- 17:00 – how to read Shakespeare
- 18:00 – why most people don’t “get” Shakespeare
- 21:00 – should you read or watch Shakespeare’s plays?
- 21:50 – my “luxurious” method of reading Shakespeare
- 27:10 – reader’s sublime/readerly falling in love/runner’s high
- 27:50 – the publication and performance history of Richard III
- 28:35 – who was Richard III?
- 30:00 – are we complicit in the evil of Richard III?
- 31:30 – comparing the opening and ending of Richard III
- 32:00 – “Now is the winter of our discontent…”
- 35:00 – “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”
- 36:00 – one of the worst monologues in Shakespeare
- 38:50 – the real history of Richard III
- 39:00 – why you can’t criticise the king
- 43:15 – psychological / shadow / other self
- 44:30 – guilt, culpability, compliance, and complicit evil
- 51:40 – “with a virtuous visor hide deep vice”
- 54:30 – politics is seasonal mythology
- 58:40 – “Shall I forget myself to be myself?”