William Shakespeare's Richard III

E261881

Elizabethan drama history play play

William Shakespeare's Richard III is a history play dramatizing the ruthless rise and fall of England’s King Richard III, renowned for its compelling villain-protagonist and rich, politically charged language.

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All labels observed (10)

Label	Occurrences
Shakespeare’s Richard III	3
Richard III (play)	2
Richard III (stage role)	2
Richard III by William Shakespeare	2
Act I of Richard III	1
Act III of Richard III	1
Shakespeare's history play "Richard III"	1
The Tragedy of Richard III	1
William Shakespeare's Richard III canonical	1
William Shakespeare’s play Richard III	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2388400 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: William Shakespeare's Richard III
Context triple: [Thomas More's History of King Richard III, influenced, William Shakespeare's Richard III]

A. Thomas More's History of King Richard III
Thomas More's History of King Richard III is a seminal early-16th-century biographical and historical narrative that portrays Richard III as a ruthless usurper and heavily shaped the king’s enduringly negative reputation.
B. Richard III (1995 film)
Richard III (1995 film) is a 1995 British adaptation of Shakespeare’s play that reimagines the story in a fascist 1930s England, starring Ian McKellen in the title role.
C. Henry VI, Part 3
Henry VI, Part 3 is a history play by William Shakespeare that dramatizes the violent power struggles of the Wars of the Roses leading up to the rise of the House of York.
D. Richard III (1955 film)
Richard III (1955 film) is a British historical drama directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, adapting Shakespeare’s play about the scheming English king.
E. Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare that dramatizes the events surrounding King Henry V of England, particularly his leadership during the Battle of Agincourt in the Hundred Years' War.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: William Shakespeare's Richard III
Target entity description: William Shakespeare's Richard III is a history play dramatizing the ruthless rise and fall of England’s King Richard III, renowned for its compelling villain-protagonist and rich, politically charged language.

A. Thomas More's History of King Richard III
Thomas More's History of King Richard III is a seminal early-16th-century biographical and historical narrative that portrays Richard III as a ruthless usurper and heavily shaped the king’s enduringly negative reputation.
B. Richard III (1995 film)
Richard III (1995 film) is a 1995 British adaptation of Shakespeare’s play that reimagines the story in a fascist 1930s England, starring Ian McKellen in the title role.
C. Henry VI, Part 3
Henry VI, Part 3 is a history play by William Shakespeare that dramatizes the violent power struggles of the Wars of the Roses leading up to the rise of the House of York.
D. Richard III (1955 film)
Richard III (1955 film) is a British historical drama directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, adapting Shakespeare’s play about the scheming English king.
E. Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare that dramatizes the events surrounding King Henry V of England, particularly his leadership during the Battle of Agincourt in the Hundred Years' War.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Elizabethan drama ⓘ history play ⓘ play ⓘ
adaptedAs	film adaptations ⓘ numerous stage productions ⓘ television adaptations ⓘ
approximateCompositionDate	c. 1592–1594 ⓘ
author	William Shakespeare ⓘ
contains	prose passages ⓘ
dramaticDevice	asides ⓘ direct address to the audience ⓘ soliloquies ⓘ
dramaticForm	chronicle history ⓘ
featuresCharacter	Duke of Buckingham ⓘ King Edward IV ⓘ linked to: Edward IV of England Lady Anne Neville ⓘ linked to: Anne Neville Margaret of Anjou ⓘ Queen Elizabeth ⓘ Richard, Duke of Gloucester ⓘ Richmond (Henry VII) ⓘ linked to: Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
firstKnownPublication	1597 quarto ⓘ
focusesOn	fall of Richard III ⓘ rise of Richard III to the English throne ⓘ
genre	history ⓘ tragedy ⓘ
historicalContext	Wars of the Roses ⓘ
historicalSource	Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles ⓘ linked to: Holinshed's Chronicles Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III ⓘ linked to: Thomas More's History of King Richard III
includedIn	First Folio (1623) ⓘ linked to: First Folio of Shakespeare
influenced	later depictions of Richard III in literature ⓘ stage portrayals of political villains ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
mainCharacter	Richard III ⓘ linked to: Richard III of England
notableFor	politically charged language ⓘ psychological portrayal of a tyrant ⓘ rhetorical speeches ⓘ
openingLine	Now is the winter of our discontent ⓘ
partOf	Shakespearean history plays ⓘ linked to: Shakespearean histories first tetralogy of history plays ⓘ
prequelPlays	Henry VI, Part 1 ⓘ Henry VI, Part 2 ⓘ Henry VI, Part 3 ⓘ
protagonistType	villain-protagonist ⓘ
settingPeriod	late 15th century England ⓘ
structure	five acts ⓘ
theme	conscience and guilt ⓘ deceit and manipulation ⓘ divine justice ⓘ legitimacy of kingship ⓘ power and ambition ⓘ
writtenIn	blank verse ⓘ

How these facts were elicited