King Richard 3

cf Looking for Richard with Al Pacino

Intro published as a quarto in 1597 ( cheap edition) performed in 1592 93 most plays were not published.
Original title: The tragedy of a king
In 1623 first folio after shakespeare death. 2 genres in the play: history and tragedy.
Divided in two tetralogies: first tetralogy composed of H6, 1,2,3 + Richard 3 second tetralogy includes Rochard 2nd, Henry the 4th + 1; 2 + Henry the fifth it is not historical order but the chronological way it was written. (order of composition).
2 seperate plays also: King John (boring, performed), and the other one is Henry the 8.

tragedy

1/the origins of tragedy classical tragedy mainly, it is dramatic. Suffering is the origin of tragedy, and more tragedies ask questions about the suffering but never answer. Emphasises the inexplicability of suffering.

Cf quotation number 2
Lear gives his land to one of his 3 daughters.

Cf quotation number 3 about suffering.

A tragdy will not tell you anything about suffering but you might understand something through the play.
Aristotle (Aristote) theories : rules are descriptive, but he doesn't write about how to write a tragedy. He simply describes the rules, the devices used by playwrites. , Unity of place, Unity of time (action takes place in one day), Unity of action (everything is connected to the main plot)
Shakespeare play: Not the same place, not single time, but same plot.

In chapter 4 of his Poetics, aristotle says that tragedy is a imitation of an action, that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude.
Tragedy is mimetic, it imitates real life. It is not science fiction. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. Tragedy has to be organised. It should progress to an initial situation to a different final situation. It should be long enough to take place during the play (riversal fortune). Aristotle defines the different components of tragedy. The aim of tragedy is to present an