Tag Archives: Richard III

Richard III, Slimed by Shakespeare

By Robin Bates | Published: April 23, 2023

Richard III was not fairly treated by Shakespeare. Historical accuracy aside, the Bard still gave us a powerful depiction of evil.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Henry Tudor, Henry VII, propaganda, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

All Authoritarians Are Like Richard III

By Robin Bates | Published: May 18, 2022

Shakespeare gives us a brilliant depiction of the authoritarian mindset in “Richard III.” Think Trump and Putin.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged authoritarians, Donald Trump, Fascism, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Stephen Greenblatt, Strongmen Mussolini to the Present, Tyrant Shakespeare on Politics, tyrants, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Cruz Is No Willie Stark or Richard III

By Robin Bates | Published: February 24, 2021

Ted Cruz? More Willie Stark crossed with Chevy Chase or Richard III played by Mr. Bean?

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged All the King's Men, E. L. James, Fifty Shades of Grey, Robert Penn Warren, Ted Cruz, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

A Wretch Concentered All in Self

By Robin Bates | Published: December 7, 2020

Look to Sir Walter Scott, not to Shakespeare, to sum up Donald Trump’s exit.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "My Native Land", 2020 election, Donald Trump, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Sir Walter Scott, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Trump & Covid: Tragedy or Farce?

By Robin Bates | Published: October 4, 2020

Was the Rose Garden event for Trump’s new SCOTUS pick–which became a Covid superspreader event–a Shakespearean tragedy? How about a farce?

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged COVID-19, Donald Trump, Game of Thrones, George Martin, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Masque of the Red Death, Sophocles, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Are We Watching Shakespeare or Beckett?

By Robin Bates | Published: March 7, 2019

Friday When assuring my English majors that they will find jobs in the world beyond college, I sometimes point out that they are experts in narrative. Increasingly we are learning how much we process reality through stories, and political operatives talk ceaselessly about “controlling the narrative.” How you organize facts (or for that matter, lies) […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Arthur Conan Doyle, Donald Trump, Endgame, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Mueller investigation, narrative, Samuel Beckett, Unnamable, Waiting for Godot, Westword Ho!, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Which Shakespeare Character Is Trump?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 2, 2019

Wednesday It’s satisfying to see national pundits take a page out of Better Living through Beowulf and turn to the classics to understand Donald Trump. Okay, so NeverTrumper conservative Bret Stephens has probably never read this blog, but we both recognize how literature deepens our understanding of the world, including American politics. I particularly appreciate […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Aristophanes, Donald Trump, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Lysistrata, Macbeth, Nikolai Gogol, Othello, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Trump, Like Macbeth, Does Murder Sleep

By Robin Bates | Published: May 7, 2018

“Macbeth,” a psychological study of a tyrant, also illumines aspects of Donald Trump.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged authoritarians, Donald Trump, Macbeth, tyrants, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Shakespeare Understood Trumpism

By Robin Bates | Published: November 3, 2016

According to Adam Gopnik, Shakespeare would have understood the rise of Donald Trump better than we do today. Whereas we see him as a historical oddity, Shakespeare would have seen him as the kind of evil that has always resided within humankind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Adam Gopnik, As You Like It, Donald Trump, Hamlet, Henry V, Hillary Clinton, King Lear, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Tempest, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare | Comments closed