In last Saturday’s Telegraph (the newspaper in the UK, not the Australian one) Allan Massie, famous Scottish writer and columnist, wrote a column on Gaddafi’s death.  In it he says ‘The death of a tyrant may be a matter for rejoicing, but it may also be the stuff of tragedy or at least pathos.’

He makes his point by comparing Gaddafi’s death to the fall of the tyrants in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Richard III.  In both cases the popular image of the real-life king has been very much influenced and overshadowed by the Bard.  Allan Massie is very well aware of Shakespeare’s influence and is careful to distinguish between the literary Richard III and the historic Richard III as represented by the Richard III Society.  This is what he had to say:

To forestall complaints from members of the Richard III Society who think him a much maligned figure, a victim of scurrilous Tudor propaganda – and that much is certainly true – let me say that it is Shakespeare’s Richard, not the historical Richard of whom one knows little for certain, that I am talking about. Shakespeare’s Richard then is a scoundrel, a liar, seducer, murderer and tyrant, granted only two redeeming qualities – wit and courage.

We appreciate all the good work the Richard III Society, of which we are just one small part, is doing.  Allan Massie’s column shows us that the efforts are bearing fruit.  Keep up the good work!

You can find the article from the Telegraph here.

Tags: Richard III, Shakespeare