Richard III served up a fine evening's entertainment yesterday of blood, treachery and a surfeit of curses: “Thou elvish-mark’d, abortive, rooting hog!” “Thou loathed issue of thy father’s loins!” Perfect for the next unwashed villainous lout who dares cross my path.
And such a fine piece of propaganda is the play that we remember a long ago king as a monster, another way of saying the storyteller trumps the historian.
Posted at May 9, 2003 02:10 PMObRandomGenerator: http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html? (But you knew I'd do that.) Tho' half the time it serves up fakes.
BTW, I like the change in format for comments.
---L.
Posted by: Larry Hammer on May 9, 2003 05:14 PMDidja ever see the Blackadder series? The pilot opens with a funny reference to Richard III:
"History has known many great liars. Copernicus, Goebbels, St Ralph the Liar [he is shown holding a sign which reads `St Benedict the Liar'] -- but there have been none quite so vile as the Tudor king, Henry VII. It was he who rewrote history to portray his precessor Richard III as a deformed maniac who killed his nephews in the Tower. But the real truth is that Richard was a kind and thoughtful man who cherished his young wards. In particular, Richard, Duke of York, who grew into a big, strong boy. Henry also claimed he won the Battle of Bosworth Field and killed Richard III. Again, the truth is very different; for it was Richard, Duke of York, who became king after Bosworth Field, and reigned for thirteen glorious years. As for who really killed Richard III and how the defeated Henry Tudor escaped with his life, all is revealed in this; the first chapter of a history never before told: the history of The Black Adder!"
I love that show.
Posted by: Sean Stickle on May 12, 2003 12:43 AMDidn't see the pilot, but have laughed to the point of tears at Blackadder as the valet to the Prince Regent.
Posted by: liesl on May 12, 2003 10:01 AMThis discussion has been closed. No more comments may be added.