'Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass, That I may see my shadow as I pass.' Richard III is Shakespeare's most charismatic protagonist-villain, exercising his wrongdoing with devilish glee and dazzling loquaciousness. He is also one of the most notorious examples in English literature of a damaging equation of disability with moral failing. The introduction to this edition provides a fresh take on this play's attractions and repulsions. Susan L. Anderson details how Shakespeare's telling of the final chapter in the Wars of the Roses has irrevocably shaped both the reputation of the historical figure of Richard III and the way disability is represented on stage and in fiction. The introduction draws on the recent burgeoning of work on early modern disability to demonstrate how the lens of disability can provide fresh and interesting readings of the play. While acknowledging the recent archaeological findings about the historical Richard III, Anderson carefully distinguishes the literary character from the historical king and explores his relationship to a wider swathe of histories. Anderson highlights how the play's poetic and linguistic features contribute to the pleasures and fascinations of reading this text, and shows readers that Richard III as a play can also prompt us to think differently about disability in the past and now. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Susan L. Anderson teaches in the Shakespeare & Performance program at Mary Baldwin University, in association with the American Shakespeare Center. She is the author of Echo and Meaning on Early Modern English Stages (2018), the co-editor of A Cultural History of Disability in the Renaissance (2020) and assistant editor for the journal Early Theatre. She also guest-edited a collection of essays on Disability in Early Modern Theatre for Early Theatre in 2019. She is a contributing editor to the LEMDO edition of early modern mayoral pageantry, and to the Oxford Complete Works of Thomas Heywood. JOHN JOWETT is Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. He is the General Editor of The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works with particular responsibility for the original-spelling Critical Reference edition. He is author of Shakespeare and Text (2007, 2019) and co-editor of a collection of essays on Measure for Measure (2026). Jowett is a General Editor of Arden Early Modern Drama and edited Volpone (2024) for the series.