Richard III, by WIlliam Shakespeare

Richard III, by William Shakespeare
Signet Classic, ISBN 0-451-52266-4
Price paid: 1,00$

"Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die:
I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!"

Richard III sets the story of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as he works his way to traitorous kingship. It is the second longest play written by Shakespeare and possibly my favorite (until very recently, Macbeth had this honour).

Let us keep in mind that this blog does not attempt to review books in a conventional way; indeed, each will be reviewed based on the price paid and the worth of its words. In this mindset, Richard III more than exceeds its value. We witness through the story a man who, though written as a dark villain, is very much what sits at the core of each of us; the human interpretation of the desire to boldly reach what is unattainable, no matter the cost.

Richard, using his charm and cunning, embattles one lord against the other, so that he may rise without much suspicion. However, due to his increasing paranoia, he dispatches allies and enemies with so much haste and carelessness as to end up having to defend his title pretty much alone. There are powerful lessons shown here in the bluntest of forms.

What do we get for a dollar? First of all, the Signet Classics offer a short explanation about the playwright and takes special care to separate the myth from the man. Equal attention is given to explain the differences between the many versions printed after his death, which have changed the play thorough the ages. They assure us of being as faithful to the original material as is possible.

Follows a preface that is succinct and apt (I loathe introductions; it is like holding candy from a child and giving an hour-long lecture on what the candy precisely is). Then we plunge in the story for a good hundred and fifty so pages. We are subsequently given various sources, essays and historical facts to accompany this play with a good dose of History.

Is it worth a dollar?

It very much is. Though many will have read the book through school assessments, it is in my opinion one of the darkest yet most accurate depiction of the human folly, written by Shakespeare. Of the many published, this is one to have in your collection.