Duluth Journal of Undergraduate Research 2014 Colley Cibber’s Adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III: A Lutheran View of Divine Providence Gretchen Geer College of Liberal Arts University of Minnesota Duluth
[email protected] UROP Faculty Advisor Dr. Paul D. Cannan Department of English College of Liberal Arts University of Minnesota Duluth
[email protected] 1. Introduction Colley Cibber’s Richard III is one of the most successful adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays ever written, having held the stage for nearly two hundred years (from about 1699-1887)1. Even though Shakespeare’s version has now been restored, some of Cibber’s most famous lines are still included in performances of Richard III today.2 Cibber’s adaptation responds to the theme of divine providence and predestination in Shakespeare’s play. Shakespeare presented the story of Richard III in a way that was both politically and religiously correct for his time. By the time Cibber was writing, though, this presentation was no longer compatible with contemporary politics and religion, and Cibber’s audience would not have been completely comfortable with the way topics such as kingship, divine providence, and predestination were treated in Shakespeare’s Richard III. Some people, such as Lutherans, (with whom I will argue that Cibber was sympathetic) would have been particularly troubled by these aspects of Shakespeare’s play. Cibber adapted Richard III to reflect contemporary politics and religion, as well as his own beliefs. In particular, his goal was to alter the play so that it no longer contradicted contemporary Lutheran beliefs about divine providence and predestination.