Defective Rulers in Henry IV and Richard II
It has been shown again and again throughout history and literature that if there is a perfect human he is not also the perfect ruler. Those traits which we hold as good, such as the following of some sort of moral code, interfere with the necessity of detachment in a ruler. In both Henry IV and Richard II, Shakespeare explores what properties must be present in a good ruler. Those who are imperfect morally, who take into account only self-interest and not honor or what is appropriate, rise to rule, and stay in power.
Throughout Richard II, Bolingbroke is up against King Richard. Richard is, to a considerable degree, the morally void opportunist: he does after all sieze Gaunt's lands at the moment of his death, taking the entire inheritance away from Gaunt's sons. Richard lacks a sense of morality when it is to his advantage to ignore morality, and proclaims what is right when he thinks he can save his crown. At Gaunt's death, when York attemps to point out that what Richard is doing is wrong, Richard says simply: 'Think what you will, we sieze into our hands/ His plate, his goods, his money and his lands'. Yet later, as Richard is surrounded and on the verge of defeat: 'We are amazed, and thus long have we stood/ To watch the fearful bending of thy knee,/ Because we thought ourself thy lawful king;/ And if we be, how dare thy joints forget/ To pay their awful duty to our presence?'. Richard uses morality as a tool, a necessary quality in a good ruler, yet he is not manipulative enough. Bolingbroke not only ignores morality in his dealings, but keeps up the appearance of moral right and goodness. Bolingbroke knows how to let others take the fall...
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...Bolingbroke because of the doom his need for honor must lead him to.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Bloom, Harold. Henry IV, Part One: Bloom's Notes. New York: Chelsea House, 1996.
Cruttwell,Patrick. Hernry IV. Shakespeare For Students, Vol. II. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1999.
Dean, Leonard F. "Richard II: The State and the Image of the Theatre." PMLA 67 (1952): 211-18.
Kantor, Andrea. Henry IV, Part One. London: Baron's Education Series, Inc, 1984.
Princiss, G.M. Richard II Criticism. Shakespeare For Students, Vol.II. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1999.
Shakespeare, William. Henry IV, Part One, Penguin Books, Lim, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England. 1987.
Shakespeare, William. Richard II. Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Ed. G. B. Harrison. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1948. 430-67.
In conclusion, it seems clear to me that the Legislative Branch holds huge power, and in my opinion has the most power of the three. No other branch seems to screams out “We the people” like this one. No other branch offers so many checks and balances to the other branches. This is the branch that writes and passes our laws, can supersede even a presidential veto if it has enough unity from its members within. Congress decides how federal money will be spent, approves presidential appointments, and impeach the President if deemed appropriately within.
...e was also writing in Tudor England and seemed to have openly dislike Richard III. In other portions of his writing he describes Richard as an unattractive deformed man who was born with a full set of teeth. He writes that he had a “sour countenance , which seemed to savour of mischief, and utter evidently craft and deceit.”
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet (The New Folger Library Shakespeare). Simon & Schuster; New Folger Edition, 2003.
The Founding Fathers knew that our country needed a strong central government. They did not want one part to have more control than another. They came up with the three branches of government to equally spread out the power. Each branch has their own separate duties and roles to make sure our government runs smoothly, and so no one branch can overthrow another. The three branches are Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The Legislative branch makes the laws, and is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Next, the Executive branch where the President and Vice president stand, and this is where laws are “executed”. Finally there is the judicial branch, which consists of the Supreme Court. This branch oversees the court system, and they decide whether a law is unconstitutional or not. Even though each branch is just as important as the other, and was supposed to be created “equal” which one holds more power? Which branch should hold more power? Out of the three branches, the Executive branch is the most powerful branch.
From the beginning of the play, the character of Richard is depicted as amiss. Thomas More’s account of King Richard states that King Richard“was malicious, wrathful, envious, and, from afore his birth ever forward” (More, 2005:10).King Richard’s mother, the Duchesse of York is said to have had a hard labour at his birth. Richard is said to have come into the wor...
When first aired, the series was recognized immediately as a landmark. It had taken six years to make. Researchers had combed film archives in eleven countries and the result was a stunning record of the conflict as it happened.
All in all, to my way of thinking, Richard's actions and behaviour were the subject of attention and analysis and were presented, after his death, as those of a wicked and immoral tyrant. However, despite the Tudor's attempts to load charges on Richard III, historians now take a balanced approach to avoid either side of the pendulum as the available evidence is not enough to corroborate their claims. His portrait may have been due to his enemy’s plot to call him an inhumanly cruel and wicked person; a ruthless despot, who only longed to achieve his aim–to become King of England.
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 content and construction of texts are inexorably influenced by the plethora of social, cultural, and historical factors relative to a composer’s context. Context thus becomes the principle medium for deciphering the complex and often didactic meanings within texts. Through the comparative study of Shakespeare’s historical tragedy King Richard III and Al Pacino’s postmodern docudrama Looking For Richard, both texts explore the various connections explored through the protagonist Richard with respective societal influence affecting their portrayal. Shakespeare’s text strongly conveys a sense of providentialism which was influential by the Tudor monarchy whilst Al Pacino thorough the implement of modern day media portrays these influences to a secular, postmodern audience.
Despite many people working for companies that cared so little for their employees, upper class citizens had no idea what was going on behind closed doors. It took muckrakers, investigative journalists who exposed the horrors of factory jobs, for the wealthy to see what poor, immigrant workers had to do for a living. Even the president at the time, Theodore Roosevelt, was not fully aware of what conditions these workers were subjected to. He sent two trusted men to investigate a certain meat-packing facility, and The Neill-Reynolds Report was the result. In this report, it was revealed to Roosevelt, along with the nation, that the men “saw meat shoveled from filthy wooden floors… in most cases damp and soggy…” and that the workers arrived every day to their jobs only to face “the expectoration of tuberculosis and other diseased workers,” (Doc B). Not only did people in the meat-packing industry have to work in dangerous conditions, but their health was at serious risk as well, from both fellow employees and the raw meat that was handled daily. Fortunately, once word of this reached President Roosevelt, he passed the Federal
Executive Branch: The President carries out federal laws and recommends new ones, as well as directs the national defense and foreign policy, and performs ceremonial duties. The President powers includes directing government, commanding the Armed Forces, dealing with international leaders, acting as chief law enforcement officer, and vetoing laws. Legislative Branch: Headed by Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main focus of these two bodies is to make the laws. The House of Representative’s powers include passing laws, originating spending bills (House), impeaching officials (Senate), and approving treaties (Senate). Judicial Branch: Headed by the Supreme Court and their main focus is to interpret the Constitution, reviewing laws, and decidi...
The United States government consists of three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. These branches were created to be coequal with overlapping powers that keep each other branch in check. The branches of government were designed to work well together and be being coequal would result in making decisions that are in the best interests of the people. Each branch is crucial to making sure the federal government works properly. In many ways, the legislative branch seems to have more power than the executive and judicial branches. The Framers of the Constitution wanted the legislative branch to have more power, which is sustained today in the United States government. The Framers also granted the legislative branch certain powers to give them more authority. The three main powers that enable the legislative branch to have this authority are the abilities to appropriate funds, declare war, and create laws.
Shakespeare Richard III was a traitor, a murderer, a tyrant, and a hypocrite. The leading characteristics of his mind are scorn, sarcasm, and an overwhelming contempt. It appears that the contempt for his victims rather than active hatred or cruelty was the motive for murdering them. Upon meeting him he sounds the keynote to his whole character. " I, that am curtailed of this proportion, cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deform'd, unfinish'd sent before my time Into this word scarce half made up"( 1.1.20-23)
Composers throughout various zeitgeists are linked by different representations of universal human concerns, and their texts simultaneously embody certain values and agendas individual to themselves. An exploration of Shakespeare’s King Richard III (1592) and Al Pacino’s Looking for Richard (1996) allows for a greater understanding of the composer’s respective contexts, along with their intended agendas, through the lens of their own societal values and concerns. The manipulation of Richard III’s persona, whether by authorial adaptation of historical sources related to his character, or through the differing views of Richards motives, are universal concepts, that when studied in relation to the differing time periods, accentuates the context and our understanding of recurrent aspects of the human experience.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. C. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: Norton, 2005. Print.