A New Historicist Study Of Shakespeare's Richard Ⅲ And Its Films

William Shakespeare is one of the greatest poets and playwrights all over the world. His works include 154 sonnets,2 narrative poems and 38 plays. He wrote 10 history plays, which account for one third of the 38 plays. RichardⅢis Shakespeare's earlier history play and is frequently performed. Richard Loncraine's 1995 film RichardⅢis a famous film. Laurence Olivier also directed the version of the same play in 1955.The thesis analyzes Shakespeare's history play RichardⅢand its films by using the research method of New Historicism, mainly the theory of the American scholar Greenblatt. This thesis attempts to argue that Shakespeare's history play RichardⅢis mainly based on the historical materials, but Shakespeare also attends the process of reconstructing the history. He does select, compress, change the chronological order of events, and even invent new incidents to express his deep concern of humanism and creative artistry. Thus the "textuality of history" is embodied. In addition, the paper probes into the interaction of the play and the history during the period of Elizabeth I, points out the influence of political events and situations on the play and exposes the "historicity of text". Both Olivier and Loncraine make advantageous alterations to the text. Olivier uses a careful film adaption, the artful use of shadow and the theme of crown. The film of Loncraine differs in its fascist-era setting, RichardⅢ-the Fascist ruler Hitler. Loncraine also invents some scenes of sex and violence to cater to the audiences'needs and make money. The film shows how twentieth century culture reshapes history and reconstructs its own villains. Shakespeare's RichardⅢand its films are combinations of "text" and "history". Studying Shakespeare's RichardⅢand its films from the perspective of New Historicism is helpful for understanding and perceiving their artistic values.