Cultural depictions of Richard III of England Cultural depictions of Richard III of England Richard III of England has been depicted in literature and popular culture many times. In the Tudor period he was invariably portrayed as a villain, most famously in Shakespeare's play "Richard III", but also in other literature of the period. Richard's life was not much depicted again until the 20th century when the "Ricardian" movement sought to restore his reputation. Much of more recent creative literature has portrayed him in a positive light. However his reputation as a hunchbacked villain has remained a familiar historical cliché within popular culture. The foremost work of
Ricardian (Richard III) was his wish. During the campaign, the group failed to attract enough support to petition parliament. Ricardian (Richard III) Ricardians are people interested in altering the posthumous reputation of Richard III, King of England (reigned 1483–1485). Richard III has long been portrayed unfavourably, most notably in William Shakespeare's play "Richard III", in which Richard is portrayed as having murdered his nephew, the crown prince of England, a 12 year old child at the time, in order to secure the English throne for himself. Ricardians have worked in an effort to turn this around and to paint this portrayal, and the