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Essay on the evolution of richard ii's character
The idea of kingship of Shakespeare
Essay on the evolution of richard ii's character
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Shakespeare’s Development of the King in Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, Henry V
Shakespeare's plays beginning with Richard II and concluding with Henry V presents an interesting look at the role of a king. England's search for "the mirror of all Christian kings" provided the opportunity to explore the many facets of kingship showing the strengths and weaknesses of both the position and the men who filled that position. Through careful examination, Shakespeare develops the "king" as a physical, emotional, and psychological being. By presenting the strengths and weaknesses of these characteristics, Shakespeare presents a unified look at the concept of "kingship" and demonstrates that failure to achieve proper balance in "the king versus the man" struggle, leads to the ongoing bloodshed examined in this tetralogy and the next.
Richard II demonstrates the extreme of the conceit of divine right. He abuses his power and position caring only for the regal image he projects. His desire is for the physical, majestic appearance accompanied by the power and wealth of royalty. Richard desires to "look" the part which he succeeds in doing. In Richard II III.iii, York says of Richard in line 68, "Yet looks he like a king!" Richard does not care if he truly is a king with regard to responsibility for his subjects. He has interpreted divine right to be an agreement from God to him with no obligations to the subjects over whom he has dominion. This is exemplified in his attitude toward his ailing uncle, John of Gaunt, when he says to his friends, "Come, gentlemen, let's all go visit him. Pray God we may make haste and come too late (RII I.iv.63-64)." Richard's only interest is in the estates Gaunt's ...
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...: Yale UP, 1990.
6. Chapman, George. All Fools. [1605.] Ed. Frank Manley. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1968.
7. Council, Norman. When Honour's at Stake. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1973.
8. Craig, Horace S. Dueling Scenes and Terms in Shakespeare's Plays. Los Angeles: U of California P, 1940.
9. Edelman, Charles. Brawl Ridiculous: Swordfighting in Shakespeare's Plays. New York: Manchester UP, 1992.
10. Kiernan, V.G. The Duel in European History. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1988.
11. Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta. [1633.] Ed. James R. Siemon. New York: W W Norton, 1994.
12. Seldon, John. Table-Talk. [1689]. Ed. Edward Arber. London: Alex, Murray & Son, 1868.
13. Shakespeare, W. "The Tragedy of King Richard the Second." The Complete
14. Signet Classic Shakespeare. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Johanovich, Publishers, 1972
to behave in the same way as King Richard, and since he is acting this way, the
Shakespeare, William. Richard II. Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Ed. G. B. Harrison. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1948. 430-67.
Sometimes the greatest test of a theory is its longevity. Over time, some theories will be disproved, some will be modified, and some will become the basis for a whole new group of theories. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance has stood up to challenge for over forty years, and is considered by many to be the single most important theory of social psychology. Though there have been modifications to the theory after many recreations and simulations of the original 1957 experiment, few have been able to really disqualify Festinger’s findings. It would be safe to say that many people don’t even have a full grasp of the incredible implications that Festinger’s research and experiments have towards the self-concept and behavior, myself not excluded. The actual definition of cognitive dissonance is almost too simple: an unpleasant feeling that arises from the contradiction of belief and action. Festinger, however, went on to find that dissonance would in fact change attitudes over time, helping people to justify their behavior when they know it is clearly wrong.
Cognitive dissonance makes it difficult for people to accept conflicting new ideas. Conflicting beliefs create discomfort
I have used the experiences and views of modern people to collect information concerning cognitive dissonance. Also, I have researched the experiences of historical figures to learn more about how they successfully dealt with cognitive dissonance. We all experience some sort of cognitive dissonance in our lives; therefore, when we learn how to deal with it in a good way, we will come to new understandings and will be able to add value to organizations and to society as a whole.
Cognitive dissonance can be described as the feeling of discomfort resulting from holding two conflicting beliefs. It can also be said to be the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. A well-known psychologist Leon Festinger (1919–89), introduced this concept in the late 1950s where he proved that, when confronted with challenging new information; most people are observed to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting or avoiding the new information or by convincing themselves that no conflict really exists in one way or the other (Festinger, 04).
How human children’s intelligence develops as they go through their adolescent stages in their early life has been a wonder to many researches and theorists. Jean Piaget is a stage theorists which means that he believes that there are a series of four main qualitatively different periods (or stages) that children go through in a certain and stable order and that any information or experiences that they gain in one stage is going to stay with them and prepare them for their next one. Piaget believes that children are active participants in their own development from stage to stage and that they construct their own mental structures through their interactions with their environments that begin just
Gifted with the darkest attributes intertwined in his imperfect characteristics, Shakespeare’s Richard III displays his anti-hero traits afflicted with thorns of villains: “Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous / By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams” (I.i.32-33). Richard possesses the idealism and ambition of a heroic figure that is destined to great achievements and power; however, as one who believes that “the end justifies the means”, Richard rejects moral value and tradition as he is willing to do anything to accomplish his goal to the crown. The society, even his family and closest friends, repudiate him as a deformed outcast. Nevertheless, he cheers for himself as the champion and irredeemable villain by turning entirely to revenge of taking self-served power. By distinguishing virtue ethics to take revenge on the human society that alienates him and centering his life on self-advancement towards kingship, Richard is the literary archetype of an anti-hero.
The undeniable pursuit for power is Richard’s flaw as a Vice character. This aspect is demonstrated in Shakespeare’s play King Richard III through the actions Richard portrays in an attempt to take the throne, allowing the audience to perceive this as an abhorrent transgression against the divine order. The deformity of Richards arm and back also symbolically imply a sense of villainy through Shakespeare’s context. In one of Richard’s soliloquies, he states how ‘thus like the formal Vice Iniquity/ I moralize two meanings in one word’. Through the use of immoral jargons, Shakespeare emphasises Richard’s tenacity to attain a sense of power. However, Richard’s personal struggle with power causes him to become paranoid and demanding, as demonstrated through the use of modality ‘I wish’ in ‘I wish the bastards dead’. This act thus becomes heavily discordant to the accepted great chain of being and conveys Richard’s consumption by power.
A psychological term used to describe mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information; arouses unease or tension; relieved by one of several defensive maneuvers: rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding new information; persuading self that no conflict really exists; reconciling differences; or resorting to any other defensive means of preserving stability or order in conception of world and of self; first introduced in 1950s; has become major point of discussion and research in psychology (as cited in Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia, 1996).
Shakespeare constructs King Richard III to perform his contextual agenda, or to perpetrate political propaganda in the light of a historical power struggle, mirroring the political concerns of his era through his adaptation and selection of source material. Shakespeare’s influences include Thomas More’s The History of King Richard the Third, both constructing a certain historical perspective of the play. The negative perspective of Richard III’s character is a perpetuation of established Tudor history, where Vergil constructed a history intermixed with Tudor history, and More’s connection to John Morton affected the villainous image of the tyrannous king. This negative image is accentuated through the antithesis of Richards treachery in juxtaposition of Richmond’s devotion, exemplified in the parallelism of ‘God and Saint George! Richmond and victory.’ The need to legitimize Elizabeth’s reign influenced Shakespeare’s portra...
From the outset of the play, it is obvious that Richard subscribes to the majority of the Machiavellian principles. Certainly, he is not ashamed or afraid to plot heinous murder, and he does so with an ever-present false front. "I do mistake my person all this while,"1 he muses, plotting Anne's death minutes after having won her hand. He will not even entertain the ideas in public, demanding they "Dive...down to [his] soul."2 He knows that he must be cunning and soulless to succeed in his tasks. Richard also knows it is essential to guard against the hatred of the populace, as Machiavelli warned.
properties. If dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant drive state, the individual is motivated to
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a psychologist who developed a theory that was completely unlike any other psychologists at that time. His idea, called Cognitive Development, stated that the actual chronological age of an adolescent is not as important as the age they experience things, or the experiential age. Cognitive is defined as “the ability to reason, make judgments, and learn” (Gorman & Anwar, 2014). Piaget goes on to describe the importance of coping with the ever-changing environment as an integral part of intelligence, and the next level of developmental stage cannot be obtained until one completes the current stage. Piaget’s Developmental Theory involves four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operations.
Knight,G.Wilson. “The Shakespearean Superman: An essay on The Tempest.” The Crown of life: Essays in Interpretation of Shakespeare’s Final Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947. 203-255