The Historic Richard
The source of Shakespeare’s Richard is the biography by St. Thomas More. “Though More is willing to grant Richard his cleverness, sardonic humor, and theatrical instinct, he describes him as an explorer might describe a rare and horrifying species of poisonous snake,” and presents Richard’s triumphs as “an occasion for moral outrage,” (Ornstein, 63). For Shakespeare, other characters refer to Richard as poison incarnate, but we, the audience, delight in his triumphs. Even as he murders his way to the throne, we are amused by his performances, and captivated when he turns to us to share his cynical commentary on his victims. We are not morally outraged because we are taken by the character’s zest.
Novelist Jospehine Tey opted to challenge More’s depiction of Richard – immortalized in Shakespeare’s play - by writing The Daughter of Time.8 While this unit should focus on the study of Shakespeare’s play, Tey’s novel will be read, not to examine its literary value, but to provide an interesting access point to counter-narratives of Richard III’s life. Tey uses the bedridden detective, Alan Grant, as the vehicle for expounding on Richard. Grant sits in a hospital bed examining old portraits when he comes upon a painting of Richard III and concludes that he cannot be the villain illustrated by More and Shakespeare. With the help of a young academic, Brent Carradine, Grant sifts through historic documents, history books, and Renaissance fiction to determine just what the historic Richard III was like.
Richard’s Relationships with his Family and the English People
Alan Grant reads The Rose of Raby, an account of Richard’s family. This text – of which full excerpts appear in the novel - presents young Richard as a marginalized child who slinks behind his older, blonder, more extroverted siblings. This version emphasizes Richard’s hero-worship of his oldest brother Edward, who visited his younger brothers every day while they were being tutored. Once Edward became king, Richard was invaluable to him. Proving to be a fierce soldier, he was a brigadier by 18 and a general by 25. From a history by Sir Cuthbert, Grant discovers that the hunchback and withered arm, critical attributes to Shakespeare’s Richard III, are myths. While Richard’s left shoulder was lower than his right, he had no apparent deformities, and certainly none that would impair his fighting ability. Thus, he was a critical ally to Edward and was given the role of “Protector of the North.”
Although he was aware of Edward’s marriages prior to Elizabeth Woodville, there is no evidence to suggest Richard ever betrayed this information. In fact, Richard stood by Edward when their brother George rebelled with the Warwicks. It was Richard who approached George’s army and negotiated Edward’s safe passage to London upon his return from France. It is thus not surprising that prior to his death, Edward appointed Richard sole protector of his seven children. When Richard became king his motto was “Loyalty blinds me,” (92). This would certainly be ironic if he had indeed arranged the murder of his two nephews. However, Tey continually casts doubt on Richard’s involvement in those murders because if the boys had truly been threats to succession, their five sisters would also be threats.
Detective Grant gets his hands on additional documents that detail Richard’s actions after the sudden death of Edward IV. Richard never took his nephews to the Tower, but rather delivered Edward’s oldest son to Bishop’s Palace. Furthermore, Grant discovers that the widowed Queen Elizabeth Woodville sent a written request to her older son from her first marriage, Dorset, to return from France and make peace with the new king, Richard. Not only does Tey present evidence to cast considerable doubt on Richard’s malicious intentions toward his family, she shows how Richard was perceived by the English people as he took the throne. From his reading Grant concludes that the common citizens did not know much of anything about Henry Tudor and were not yearning for him to cross the Channel and take the throne. In fact, when Richard was killed at Bosworth, the town of York published, “This day was our good King Richard piteously slain and murdered; to the great heaviness of this city,” (201). Furthermore, when a clergyman named Stillington convinced Parliament that he had married Edward IV to someone else, prior to Elizabeth Woodville, there is no indication of a public outcry regarding the de-legitimizing of Edward’s children and the shifting of the crown to Richard. Grant concludes that the English people welcomed Richard as their new ruler.
Richard the Ruler
Tey’s novel touches upon, but does not elaborate on Richard’s positive relationship with Parliament. Once Edward IV’s children were deemed illegitimate, Parliament, with no apparent resistance, gave Richard title to the crown through the document known as Titulus Regius. Grant quotes the History of the English Race which notes that Richard’s Parliament was liberal and progressive.
Grant also gathers several documents from Richard’s brief reign which contradict the events depicted in Shakespeare’s play. While records confirm Hastings was beheaded for treason, they also confirm that he was conspiring with Lord Stanley and John Morton, both of whom were shown mercy by Richard and both of whom were later instrumental in Henry Tudor’s take-over. To further characterize Richard as merciful, Grant discovers that Hastings’ family was able to keep his land and title despite his fall from grace. In addition, Grant finds a letter written by Richard about Hastings’ mistress, Jane Shore. The note conveys kindness at best and ambivalence at worst regarding this woman whom, according to Shakespeare, Richard blamed for his withered arm. The other woman Richard had purportedly blamed, Queen Elizabeth Woodville, was given a pension during Richard’s reign.
Illuminating Richmond (Henry VII)
Tey’s novel proves to be most critical of Thomas More and secondly of Henry Tudor, the duke of Richmond. Throughout the novel, Grant questions why Henry would create a Bill of Attainder against Richard after the Battle of Bosworth. In fact, Grant discovers that Henry had the Titulus Regius revoked and destroyed while banning the production or possession of any copies. Grant continually wants to know why neither Henry nor anyone else during the 1480s and 1490s accused Richard of killing his nephews. Both Grant and Carradine are stunned by their discovery that Tyrrel was hanged for the murders, nearly 20 years after they occurred, in 1502.
Through some crafty detective work, Grant and Carradine are able to link the rumor of Richard’s involvement in the princes’ disappearance with John Morton, whom Richard had pardoned for his conspiracy with Stanley and Hastings. After switching to the Lancastrian side, Morton became Henry VII’s Archbishop of Canterbury. Most interestingly, Grant discovers that Thomas More’s childhood was spent in Morton’s home. The detectives conclude that Morton aided Henry VII as a career move, and it was in his interest to undermine Richard’s reputation, even after Bosworth.
Henry’s various other actions as a young king are sprinkled throughout Tey’s book, and none of them cast a flattering light on him. While Grant and Carradine wonder about Henry’s repeal of Titulus Regius, they conclude that he had re-legitimized Edward IV’s children for the sake of his wife, the young Elizabeth Plantagenet. However, this creates suspicion about Henry’s role in the disappearance of the princes, since he had effectively given back their claim to the throne. Lastly, his mother-in-law, the dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, was sent to a convent early in Henry’s reign. Whereas she had enjoyed a comfortable pension under Richard, she lived in relative isolation and simplicity under Henry.
Can a Novel Accurately Portray a Historic Figure?
The Daughter of Time is a complex work, especially for students attempting to answer the question, Who is the historic Richard III? All information about Richard is filtered through the author, Tey, and then the protagonist, Grant. While the novel presents historic information that certainly counters Shakespeare’s narrative, Grant must still speculate because there are no clear answers. Additionally, Tey is not interested in proving Richard’s innocence, but rather criticizing how history is created. Grant and Carradine have numerous conversations about the Boston Massacre and Tonypandy as parallels to Richard’s exaggerated villainy. Through Grant’s exploration of Richard, we the readers come to understand the process of making historical sausage, so to speak.
Tey’s novel challenges the anti-Richard III narrative that has pervaded western culture for centuries. In doing so, she does not create a distinct character out of Richard, but presents us with numerous possibilities. From these possibilities students will craft a tribute to this man who remains difficult to know. Perhaps the greatest lesson from this portion of the unit is that sometimes we cannot know.
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