{"id":3796,"date":"2025-01-22T20:51:24","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T04:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/?p=3796"},"modified":"2025-01-22T20:51:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T04:51:24","slug":"shakespeare-had-a-thing-or-two-to-say-about-tyrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/2025\/01\/22\/shakespeare-had-a-thing-or-two-to-say-about-tyrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakespeare had a thing or two to say about tyrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Shakespeare revealed about the chaotic reign of Richard III \u2013 and why the play still resonates in the age of Donald\u00a0Trump<\/h1>\n
\n
In this circa 1754 illustration, two women scold Richard III in Shakespeare\u2019s play.
\nUniversal History Archive\/Getty Images)<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by David Sterling Brown<\/a>, Trinity College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Written around 1592, William Shakespeare\u2019s play \u201cRichard III<\/a>\u201d follows the reign of England\u2019s infamous monarch<\/a> and charts the path of a charismatic, cunning figure.<\/p>\n

As Shakespeare depicts the king\u2019s reign<\/a> from June 1483 to August 1485, Richard III\u2019s kingdom was wrought with chaos<\/a>, confusion<\/a> and corruption<\/a> that fueled civil conflict<\/a> in England.<\/p>\n

As a scholar of Shakespeare<\/a>, I first thought about Richard III and his similarities with Donald Trump after the latter\u2019s debate with President Joe Biden in June 2024. Those similarities \u2013 and Shakespeare\u2019s depictions \u2013 became even clearer after Trump\u2019s election<\/a> in November 2024.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare\u2019s play highlights the flawed character of a man who wanted to be, in modern terms, a dictator, someone who could do whatever he pleased without any consequences.<\/p>\n

In his 1964 essay, \u201cWhy I Stopped Hating Shakespeare<\/a>,\u201d writer James Baldwin<\/a> concluded that Shakespeare found poetry \u201cin the lives of people\u201d by knowing \u201cthat whatever was happening to anyone was happening to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is said that Shakespeare\u2019s time was easier than ours, but I doubt it,\u201d Baldwin wrote. \u201cNo time can be easy if one is living through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
An undated portrait of Richard III.<\/span>
\nUniversal History Archive\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A villain?<\/h2>\n

In Act 2, Scene 3 of Shakespeare\u2019s play, a common citizen<\/a> says Richard is \u201cfull of danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWoe to the land that\u2019s govern\u2019d by a child,\u201d the citizen further warned<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond hiring murderers to kill his own brother, Shakespeare\u2019s Richard was keen on belittling and distancing himself from people whom he viewed as being not loyal<\/a> or being in his way \u2013 including his wife, Anne.<\/p>\n

To clear the way for him to marry his brother\u2019s daughter \u2013 his niece<\/a> Elizabeth \u2013 Richard spread what now would be called fake news. In the play, he tells his loyalists<\/a> \u201cto rumor it abroad that Anne, my wife, is very grievously sick\u201d and \u201clikely to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard then poetically reveals<\/a> her death: \u201cAnne my wife hath bid this world goodnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, before her death, Anne has a sad realization: \u201cNever yet one hour in Richard\u2019s bed \/ Did I enjoy the golden dew of sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sentiment is echoed by Richard\u2019s mother, the Duchess of York, who regrets not strangling \u201cdamned\u201d Richard while he was in her \u201caccursed womb<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Shakespeare depicts him, Richard III was a self-centered<\/a> political figure who first appears alone on stage<\/a>, determined to prove himself a villain.<\/p>\n

In Richard\u2019s opening speech, he even says that in order to become king, he will manipulate his own brothers<\/a> George, the Duke of Clarence, and King Edward IV, \u201cin deadly hate, the one against the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as his villainous crimes mount up, Richard shares a rare moment<\/a> of self-awareness: \u201cBut I am in \/ So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shakespeare\u2019s Richard III and Trump<\/h2>\n

While the details of Trump\u2019s and Richard\u2019s lives differ in many ways, there are some similarities.<\/p>\n

Much like Trump during his first term<\/a>, Shakespeare\u2019s Richard did not lead with morals<\/a>, ethics<\/a> or integrity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Richard lied compulsively to everyone, as his soliloquys<\/a> that contain his innermost thoughts make clear.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
An illustration of English writer William Shakespeare (circa 1600).<\/span>
\nRischgitz\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like Trump, Richard used empty rhetoric to persuade people with \u201csugared words<\/a>\u201d \u2013 he was not interested in speaking<\/a> or promoting truth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Shakespeare\u2019s Richard was a sexist<\/a> and misogynist<\/a> who verbally and physically disrespected women<\/a>, including his wife and mother.<\/p>\n

In the play, for example, Richard calls Queen Margaret, widow of King Henry VI, a \u201cfoul wrinkled witch\u201d and a \u201chateful withered hag,\u201d thus disparaging her older age<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He refers to Queen Elizabeth, wife of Edward IV, as a \u201cdamned strumpet<\/a>\u201d or prostitute, which she wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Additionally, in order to cast doubts on his nephews\u2019 legitimate claims to the throne, Richard spread false rumors about his mother, claiming that she was unfaithful.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Kamala Harris shakes hands with Donald Trump before their debate.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Alex Brandon<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For his part, Trump has no shortage of disparaging remarks about women. He once called his Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton \u201cthe devil<\/a>\u201d and characterized former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as \u201ccrazy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump repeatedly peppered<\/a> Vice President Kamala Harris during the presidential campaign with sexist and racists attacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He initially refused to pronounce her name<\/a> correctly and openly mocked her racial identity as a Black woman, even questioning<\/a> her \u201cBlackness.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new day?<\/h2>\n

Like Trump, Richard III used religion<\/a> to manipulate and confuse public perception<\/a> of his amoral image.<\/p>\n

In the play, Richard stages the equivalent of a modern-day photo op<\/a>, standing between two \u201cchurchmen\u201d with a \u201cprayer-book\u201d in his hands.<\/p>\n

Much like Richard, Trump has courted evangelicals and used organized religion to his political advantage, most publicly by selling a \u201cGod Bless the USA Bible<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s 2020 photo op<\/a> in front of St. John\u2019s Church in Washington is another example. It occurred during protests over the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by a white police officer. Police in riot gear used tear gas to force protesters away from the White House; then Trump was escorted to the nearby church along with several administration officials.<\/p>\n

As a political leader, Richard III<\/a> left a legacy in English history as one of England\u2019s worst monarchs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That legacy includes his decisive defeat in the Battle of Bosworth Field<\/a> in 1485 that led to his death<\/a> and to a new era for England under King Henry VII.<\/p>\n

After winning the throne, the new king offered a message of hope<\/a> that suggested England would one day emerge from its time of civil discord:<\/p>\n

Let them not live to taste this land\u2019s increase
\nThat would with treason<\/a> wound this fair land\u2019s peace!
\nNow civil wounds are stopped, peace lives again.
\nThat she may long live here, God say amen.\"The<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

David Sterling Brown<\/a>, Associate Professor of English, Trinity College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Shakespeare revealed about the chaotic reign of Richard III \u2013 and why the play still resonates in the age of Donald\u00a0Trump In this circa 1754 illustration, two women scold Richard III in Shakespeare\u2019s play. Universal History Archive\/Getty Images) by David Sterling Brown, Trinity College Written around 1592, William Shakespeare\u2019s play \u201cRichard III\u201d follows the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[88,869,993,994],"class_list":["post-3796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","category-rants","tag-politics","tag-richard-iii","tag-shakespeare","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3797,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796\/revisions\/3797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}