When Richard III Met Long John Silver

The article establishes that Stevenson cast his Richard III in the same mold as his iconic pirate Long John Silver, and that both characters acquired some of their menacing vitality from Stevenson's one-legged friend and collaborator William Ernest Henley. More broadly, Stevenson's historical novel presents a corrective to the top-down perspective of the Shakespearean history play or rather its conscription by Victorian ‘Great Man’ historiography. The Black Arrow takes aim at the ‘Kings and Battles’ school of history by demonstrating that the reigns of the former and the outcomes of the latter often hinge on the unsung contributions of people who – due to their age, gender, class status, or ability – seldom feature in the official chronicles. Yet Stevenson also pathologises disability as a tragic predicament that must be overcome through heroic self-assertion. His novel thus redefines historical greatness while urging caution towards those who aspire to it.