A Reassessment of King Richard III’s Reputation in Virginia Cross’s Benediction: The Love, Honour and Betrayal of Richard III (2017)

Abstract

Since the discovery and positive DNA identification of King Richard III's remains in 2012 around thirty historical novels have been published in the UK in which this controversial English king figures as the main protagonist. Most of them offer a historically revised portrayal of the monarch, far removed from the mythical monster of the Shakespearian play and the Tudor propaganda, by incorporating, adapting and reinterpreting not only the reassessment of his historical reputation undertaken by academic research but also the recent scientific findings about his physical build. Following Rozett's• theory of 'filling in the gaps' (2003: 28), which is considered a most reliable analytical too for research within the field of historical fiction, and taking into account the shortage of chronicles and sources contemporary to Richard III and the bias of the Shakespearian play and the Tudor sources, it is the aim of this dissertation to analyse his portrayal in one of the most recent British historical novels on the monarch: Benediction: the Love, Honour and Betrayal of Richard III (2017) in order to account for the way in which the author has 'filled the gaps' of the monarch's two dimensions: the physical and the moral ones. Another objective will be to explore the author's purpose: is there a possible reassessment and demystification of the king's reputation in this historical novel? As support, this study will also include a thorough reading of and reflection on bibliographical sources and recent scholarship on the matter.

1 Rozett, Martha T. 2003. Constructing a World: Shakespeare 's England and the New Historical Ficton. Albany, US: State University of New York Press