ABSTRACT
https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315018577/389c1d69-bf6d-4f43-8610-58d40a6d0a1a/content/Inline_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> The play of Richard III, antedating in its composition the historical dramas that we have been studying, is of special interest for two reasons: first, it shows where tragedy and history meet; and second, it reveals an author writing without a clear distinction between these genres in mind. The play can with justification be classed as either tragedy or history, and Shakespeare's first editors did not resolve the dilemma. It was first published in quarto in 1597 with the title:
The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. Containing, his treacherous plots against his brother Clarence: the pittiefull murther of his innocent nephews: his tyrannicall usurpation; with the whole course of his detested life, and most deserved death.
