[nechayev]

i remember hearing (although i don't know if it is true) that shakespeare wrote his portrayal of the evil Richard III in part to curry favor with the House of Tudor. if this claim is accurate, there were propogandistic as well as literary motives at work when shakespeare wrote.

[ClaireSolt]

Which view do you want, the period piece or the modern analysis?

[Carolinamom]

Shakespeare's histories both dramatically instructed and entertained the English, and I've read that Queen Elizabeth encouraged him to write them. At any rate, they're superb.

[LexBaird]

i remember hearing (although i don't know if it is true) that shakespeare wrote his portrayal of the evil Richard III in part to curry favor with the House of Tudor.

Quite true. Henry Tudor, hero to Richard's villainy, was Elizabeth's grandfather. To portray RIII as anything else would have been tantamount to accusing the Tudors of Regicide and usurping the throne.