Donald J Richardson: 41 books

Henry IV, Part One is a rich play: rich in drama and intrigue, political machinations, and comedy. Not only does Prince Harry (Hal) redeem himself in his fathers eyes, he also satisfies audience expectations. One important sub-plot running throughout the play is the questionable ascension of Henry...

I do not know how Covered with Darkness came about. The process of creativity is still a mystery to me, even as I try to teach it, and this is especially true for everything that I write. There is some indefinable, inexpressible something that operates in the brain that I cannot analyze, which I simply...

The Tragedy of Richard the Third presents the tale of a Machiavellian: Richard the Third, the archetypal villain. The Elizabethan audience would already have been biased against Richard, and modern audiences probably do not feel empathy for him either. From his wooing of Anne to the continued execution of his apparent enemies, there is little sympathy for this bunch-backd toad.

Rails to Light came about as a result of my reading the book Riding the Rails. I was appalled by the teenagers experiences, and I wondered what such experiences would do to an individual. Reading about the teenagers experiences was interesting, and writing about them was exciting and invigorating....

The impetus for The Meditation of My Heart came fifty years ago when I was awarded a scholarship to CreightonPreparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska which I attended for just over a week.For it was with some dismay that I discovered the life of the contemplative was not for me.Although Sister Mary Teracita...

The impetus for Words of Truth came about when I read a newspaper article observing the fortieth anniversary of the Selma, Alabama Civil Rights march. This was an important event in our nations history, and it touched the lives of everyone who participated. Although I was old enough to take...

The Merchant of Venice is problematic. Not only does it present the disparate and unrelated stories of the caskets and the trial for a pound of flesh, but it challenges contemporary audiences to evaluate the treatment of Jews and what constitutes justice. The character of Shylock, although presented...

As a boy growing up in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas, I had no objective conception of evil. We were practicing Roman Catholics in our family, so our consideration of evil was focused on self: urges which could lead to sinurges which themselves constituted sin. Evil was what lay in the barely...

Of the five major Shakespearean tragediesHamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, and OthelloKing Lear is perhaps the most challenging. Issues of rulership, family and blood, are overlaid with bastardy, loyalty, lust, and deceit. Add to this the apparently gratuitous on-stage blinding of Gloucester,...

Coriolanus is a man afflicted by a tragic flaw: Hubris (Hybris), overweening pride. His thoughts are immediately expressed in his speech, never mind the setting or the audience. This, combined with his near total naivete, leads to his downfall, especially when confronted by the machinations of Brutus...

The Western has become an archetype for the founding of a great portion of the United States. The behavior of the men and women who pioneered the great, vast prairies of the land west of the Mississippi set standards which continue today. Living on the outskirts of formal settlements, they governed...

I was inspired to write Song of Fools by an article I read about Oscar Hartzell.As I read about him, I wondered about the motivations of those Iowans, Missourians, Nebraskans, and Kansans who gladly sent him money.I determined that the type of faith that caused them to send him money is also the kind...

The Life of Henry V continues the epic story of Richard II; Henry IV, Part One; and Henry IV, Part Two. In the Life of Henry V, Prince Hal has matured and left behind the carefree days of his youth, divorcing himself from Falstaff and his ilk and assuming the leadership of England following the death...

It is probably natural that a reader feel sympathy for Desdemona; falsely accused, she suffers some of the most offensive name-calling in all of Shakespeare. But it is also appropriate to sympathize with Othello. He becomes malleable in the hands of Iago who molds him to his own vindictive purpose,...