ABSTRACT
Metamorphosis is present in the character of King Richard III both at a synchronic and at a diachronic level. As is stressed by the frequent use of theatrical metaphors in Shakespeare and in his sources, Richard is a very good actor: he is like a chameleon and he succeeds in his 'plots' thanks to his ability to simulate and to dissimulate. This chapter examines how the character appears (and how he changes) in Shakespeare's sources; in Shakespeare's plays, that is in Henry VI, Part 3 and in King Richard III; and, above all, in The Tragical History of King Richard III which replaced Shakespeare's play on the stage from 1700 to almost the end of the nineteenth century. Colley Cibber's Richard is both less complex and less ambiguous than Shakespeare's character. He never falters. He remains self-possessed, and his devilish will does not disintegrate as the end approaches.
