Richard III

William Shakespeare

Richard III — After the bloody battle at Tewkesbury and the second dethroning of Henry VI, England and its citizens are finally able to enjoy peace under the reign of Edward IV. The remaining Lancastrian leaders are either killed or scattered to the four winds. Within the kingdom, not everyone is happy with their new king—and when Edward falls ill, his power-hungry brother Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, sees his chance and prepares to kill anyone who stands between him and the throne. Richard puts into play numerous schemes to eliminate those ahead of him in the line of succession and control the court. The first victim is King Edward’s other brother, Clarence. Rumors lead to Clarence’s imprisonment in the Tower of London, and Richard sends two murderers to murder him. Edward’s health worsens, and after his death Richard becomes Lord Protector. Next on Richard’s hit list is Lord Hastings, the loudest voice to object to Richard’s accession, and who is promptly arrested and executed for treason. As Richard orchestrates murder after murder, the deaths start coming back to haunt him. This Standard Ebooks production is based on William George Clark and William Aldis Wright’s 1887 Victoria edition, which is taken from the Globe edition.

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