Although Shakespeare was innovative and imaginative, he was well aware of the political environment of his time. Although his primary concern has always been to entertain the public, he is a smart man who knows that he cannot beat a rake and be ungrateful.
For most of his life, this benefactor was Elizabeth I.
Elizabeth I
The Queen is a huge fan of the play and one of Shakespeare's most ardent patrons. Shakespeare herself was never stingy in praising the virgin queen, and the entire beautiful poem in A Midsummer Night's Dream was tailored to her.
However, Shakespeare also kept in mind to please his main audience in a slightly subtle way, especially his depiction of the Wars of the Roses.
Elizabeth herself, of course, was Tudor, the daughter of Henry VIII and the granddaughter of Henry VII, whose army defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth.
Created in 1864 by J.W.E. Doyle, this lithograph depicts the Battle of Bosworth where Richard III was killed
With the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the rapid rise of England on the world stage, a new English identity was taking shape, so monarchs very much hoped that they too could be one of them.
Elizabeth grew older without an heir, and it was vital that England could not fall into the brutal civil war that had torn it apart in the past.
For both purposes, Shakespeare's historical drama will play a vital role.
It is a heavy burden for a playwright from a humble working class. In writing historical dramas, Shakespeare must portray the justice of the monarch, the ills of the past, and what it really means to be an Englishman.
To achieve these ends, he had to distort the facts, exaggerate the characters, and sometimes even abandon the real history altogether.
Shakespeare's first Play of the Wars of the Roses was Henry VI, Part 1, which described the political conspiracy that led to the outbreak of war.
The main figure of the Plantagenet dynasty was Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York III.
The play portrays York as a somewhat narrow-minded, selfish man who is consumed by his desire for revenge.
He refused to lend a helping hand to his compatriots in need, resulting in the death of one of the heroes. He then captured Joan de Purcell (Joan of Arc), cruelly mocked the maiden, and then burned her alive.
Joan of Arc
On hearing england and France declare peace, York was furious that he was controlled by his own ambitions rather than considering the interests of the nation.
In that era, the patriotism of the English people was an important part of national identity, and York put his desires above the state, showing an almost unforgivable ruthlessness.
However, there is no mention of how much Henry VI depended on York and how, despite being often snubbed by the king, served the country again and again.
In fact, Henry himself played a role in the quarrel between York and Somerset: while York struggled with a shortage of men, Henry provided 8,000 men for Somerset's army.
Portrait of Henry VI by an unknown painter in the 16th century
Of course, the person who killed Joan of Arc was not York, and many of York's cruel acts in the play have little historical basis.
In Henry VI, Part 2, York's every move is influenced by his attachment to the throne of England. He formed gangs within the court and sought support in Ireland.
It depicts him hiring an Irish rebel, Jack Cade, to lead a rebellion in London.
The rebellion did take place, causing a massive bloody battle between the rebels and the citizens of London on London Bridge. Shakespeare put the blame for the rebellion on York and immediately denigrated him.
In fact, however, there is absolutely no evidence that York ever participated, financed or instigated the rebellion.
In this play that further denigrates the Plantagenet dynasty and its cause, perhaps the most inaccurate description is Henry VI.
Henry VI: Part II describes the marriage of the benevolent Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou
Shakespeare's king Henry was gentle, peace-loving, and wanted only what was right, when in fact he was considered weak and incompetent, and he was known for his bursts of madness.
It was his own ineffective rule that sparked the rebellion that plagued his rule, and York was by no means the only one dissatisfied with his rule. Because of this, York initially gained the support of many people.
Shakespeare turned Henry into a saintly figure; in turn, he demonized York and portrayed the cause of the Plantagenet dynasty as a selfish quest for power that divided a happy, God-loving England.
Throughout the play, Henry VI laments the barbarism that occurs when a country abandons itself
We begin to see more famous Figures of the Plantagenet Dynasty appear in Henry VI, Part 3, not only by York, but also by his sons Edward, Richard, and George. This is followed by the death of York and Edward's victory, which allowed Edward to inherit his father's throne.
The play focuses on the horrors of war and the atrocities that tear the country apart. Although, as history says, both sides have a violent side, the evil degeneration of the Plantagenet cause has almost always been emphasized.
York appears holding the head of the Duke of Somerset in his hand, showing the depravity of the knightly tradition once cherished in England. At the same time, the play once again portrays Henry VI more sympathetically, lamenting the loss of life and the horrors of war.
The play also shaped one of the most iconic and controversial characters in Shakespeare's work, Richard III.
Almost as soon as he became Duke of Gloucester, he secretly revealed his ambitions to inherit the throne from his brother, and he went to the Tower of London to murder Henry. This has no historical basis at all. Henry was most likely killed on Edward's orders, and his death had nothing to do with Richard.
The other one who died at the hands of Richard was Prince Edward, who was so angry that edward did not want to kneel before the three Plantagenet brothers.
This is a common narrative about Prince Edward's death, but all of these are Tudor-era works, almost certainly fictional, with the aim of arousing sympathy for Prince Edward and hatred for the three Plantagenet brothers.
Prince Edward was killed in the war, becoming the only heir to the English throne to be killed on the battlefield
Richard's most obvious feature in the play is his appearance. Richard was an ugly hunchback, describing himself as "deformed and unsound", so ugly that he could not enjoy life. He also had a dry arm and a limp leg.
His anger at his appearance actually contributed to most of his behavior, saying that since he couldn't be a hero, he would become a villain.
It was not Shakespeare who created Richard's hunchback image, a key point in Tudor propaganda, and they tampered with Richard's portrait to highlight his physical defects. Shakespeare was created from this, and his hunchback image is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and for hundreds of years, it was widely believed that Richard was a hunchback.
But in reality, Richard's only deformity was scoliosis, which manifested itself slightly above the left shoulder in the right shoulder. It is believed that this defect is insignificant at all, and he cannot see it when he is wearing armor. His enemies were probably discovered after his death.
This is supported by the fact that in his lifetime no contemporary critic has mentioned this deformity, which can easily become a point of criticism for them.
The painting, painted by the famous English artist William Hogarth, depicts the famous actor David Garrick playing King Richard III in Shakespeare's play of the same name, Richard III. In this particular scene, on the eve of the third Battle of Bosworth in act V, Richard III has just awoken from a nightmare in which he is haunted by the ghosts of those he murdered
If Richard really had a hunchback or a limp disability, it would be difficult for him to put on his armor and fight, and as far as we know, Richard has participated in many battles.
Shakespeare at the time merely pandered to the Tudor propaganda about Richard and the argument that evil manifested not only in the heart but also in the appearance of man.
Perhaps Shakespeare's most controversial claim is that Richard arranged for someone to murder two princes in the Tower of London.
In the play, the two princes outwit Richard, so Richard sees them as a threat and kills them. In fact, we don't know who killed the two princes. There is no conclusive evidence to convict any of the suspects, and this is likely to remain an unsolved mystery.
In the 19th century, the prince of the tower created by the famous French painter De la Roche
Instead, the decent in the play is the Earl of Richmond, the future Henry VII. Considering that Shakespeare's patron was the granddaughter of Henry VII, we can understand why Richmond is portrayed as a hero.
All of these plays revolve around the same theme that the Plantagenet dynasty must be evil so that the Tudor dynasty can be good. Most importantly, Richard must be the evil of evil.
While it's easy to understand why Shakespeare did this (after all, a play depicting Richard III as a hero could not have been approved by the royal family), it has also had a disastrous impact on the true history of the Wars of the Roses over the years.
In order to cater to the Propaganda demands of the Tudor Dynasty, the truth was distorted, and this appeal was so powerful that it almost erased the true nature of the former rulers.
Shakespeare was first and foremost a playwright who wrote his plays for entertainment, and it is important to remember that.
This article is excerpted from The Wars of the Roses: The Ultimate Showdown of the English Kingship Game, which has been partially cut due to its length
Wars of the Roses: The Ultimate Showdown in the Game of Kingship of England
[English] Philippa Grifton, eds
Pricing: 68.00
China Pictorial Publishing House
Publication date: 2020.12