How did Shakespeare portray Richard the Third in the play of the same name?

Shakespeare, in the play, portrayed Richard as the Tudor house saw him - evil and manipulative. It is no wonder that he appears so cruel and heartless in this performance, the basis on which the play is written - the Tudor Chronicles - were written by Richards enemies. These were the only 'reliable' sources of that time period, yet many of the 'facts' in the play can be shown to be false by eye witness accounts. However, the question does ask how Shakespeare himself portrayed the unfortunate King of England, so it can only be assumed that play shows Richard as a villain.

In the opening scene, the actor playing the character of Richard, the Duke of Gloucester at that point begins with a soliloquy in which he explains his motives behind his current and future actions. He is, by his own definition, "rudely stampt" (Line 16 Act 1, Scene 1) and "not shaped for sporting tricks"(Line 14, Act 1, Scene 1), and therefore, he is "determined to prove myself a villain"(Line 30, Act 1, Scene 1). He bases all his further acts of evil on his belief that God has forsaken him, and so he shall in tu

That do conspire my death with devilish plots

One of the language devices used in this speech is a pun - a word that is used in a humorous way to suggest different meanings - in this case, on the word son. In the phrase "Made glorious summer by this son of York"(Line 2, Act 1, Scene 1), Richard is referring to Edward IV, whose emblem was the sun, making the current time in England a 'glorious summer'. This device, if picked up by the audience who, especially today, may not know of Edward's emblem, would have caused some humour to be in the play. This humour, however, would onlly be picked up by the knowledgable, or, in Shakespeare's time, everyone, because the emblem would have been more well known.

But 'twas thy heavenly face that set me on." (Lines 188-191, Act 1, Scene 2)

After this conversation, Anne 'takes up' Richard, because she is flattered by Richards smooth tongue, and she can no longer look at him as a "fouler toad"(Line 156, Act 1, Scene 2) or a "dreadful minister of hell"(Line 46, Act 1, Scene 2), which is what we know Richard as. However, even after Richard has claimed Anne as his wife, he is already planning for her to leave him somewhat permanently - "I'll have her, but I will not keep her long" (Line 241, Act 1, Scene 2).

The Opening Soliloquy as performed by the Actor playing Richard, the Duke of Gloucester.

But 'twas thy beauty that provoked me.

In the scenes that follow, we discover that Richard has the ability to change his apparent feelings towards other people as readily and as easily as we may put on another hat or a pair of gloves. He appears to be concerned with the imprisonment of his brother George, the Duke of Clarence, in the Tower of London. Later in that very same scene, we discover that he, Richard, is plotting George's death -

The main theme I found to be reflected in this speech is the old thinking of evil minds must dwell in evil bodies. This is often true, because those in bodies who do not conform with society are often treated in a manner that would cause a mind to become unpleasant, both for themselves and the people around them. Because of Richards deformities, he may have been treated differently from oth

Some common words found in the essay are:
Duke Gloucester, Edward IV, I'll Line, King Henry, Lady Anne, Tower London, Tyrell Act, London Act, Lord Chamberlain, Tudor Chronicles, act 1, 1 scene, act 1 scene, 1 scene 1, scene 1, 1 scene 2, scene 2, scene 4, richard iii, duke gloucester, lady anne, 3 scene 4, actor playing, richard duke, act 3 scene,
Approximate Word count = 1467
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)