The Director's Notes on Richard III
I think that the thing which makes this scene so powerful is the fact
that Anne gives in to Richard’s ways after she knows that he killed
her husband and her father-in-law. What makes it even more powerful is
that we, the audience, find it hard to believe a modern woman would
give in to Richard that quickly, or at all. Also we know that the only
reason he is trying to marry her is to get closer to the crown. We
know this because he says:
‘‘The readiest way to make the wench amends
Is to become her husband and her father,
The which will I, not all so much for love,
As for another secret close intent’’
I think that in this scene, Richard is so much more powerful as a
person than Anne is. In this scene Richard is kind of like a sexual
magnet and Anne is being pulled into his charms and is forgetting what
terrible things Richard has done o her and her family. I think that
Anne is quite like a modern woman in the way that if a man tells her
that he loves her she will forget about everything he has done to her
because she is so flattered. Also she falls into Richards arms more
easily because she is feeling very insecure seeing as she has no one
left to care and protect her because of Richard killing both her
husband Edward, and her father-in-law to King Henry Vl.
In the Ian Mckellen version of the play I think the scene is made much
more climatic by the fact that the body of Edward (Anne’s husband) was
there the whole scene, reminding her of what Richard had done. During
the whole of this scene I think that Richard was trapping Anne
psychologically. Near the end of this scene Richard is...
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...ve advice to the actor playing Anne I would tell her not
to act so fooled by Richard. Richard only wants to marry her for a
better shot at the throne and I think she knows it but doesn’t want to
say anything because she feels lonely and insecure.
I think that Anne doesn’t really want to marry Richard but when he
says: ‘‘Take up the sword again or take up me’’ she is rushed and
doesn’t want to kill him. I think that we see that Anne is not
completely fooled by Richard when we see him with the blade to his
throat and she pauses before saying: ‘‘Well, well put up your sword’’
I think that if Anne didn’t act so fooled it would work well because
Richard has not encountered any real problems so far in the play.
Apart from this advice there is not really any more I would give
because I think the rest is played perfectly!
Richard III's Usurpation and His Downfall Richards rule was always unstable due to his unlawful usurpation to the throne and his part as far as the public was concerned in the death of the two princes. As a result right from the start he didn't have the trust or support from his country. As soon as he became King people were already plotting against him. After he was crowned he travelled the country trying to raise support by refusing the generous gifts offered to him by various cities. However unknown to him a rebellion was been planned in the South.
murder of Duncan and may never have been King. In this way she is also
of his true intentions and that he does not plan to 'keep her long' we
Kenneth Branagh creates his own individualistic adaptation of this classic through the use of visual imagery, characterization, and setting. Branagh cut many lines and speeches from the text to better support his interpretation of a more open and informal society of warm-hearted, affectionate characters. Though Shakespeare's mood is more formal, Branagh remains true to the essence of the play as all of the same characters and most of the dialogue are justly included in the film. Although distinct differences can be made between Branagh’s film and Shakespeare’s written work, they both share a common denominator of good old-fashioned entertainment; and in the world of theater, nothing else really matters.
noble and not remarry even if her husband does not return for twenty years and
she doesn't want to beloved by either of them. She enjoys the thrills of maiden
"therefore, since I can not prove a lover, To entertain these fair well spoken days, I am determined to be a villain".As a villain Richard must be heartless, he can not let his emotions interfere with his actions.
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.
him as the king who was a villain, with a withered hand and a hunched
But McKellan's version, while radically different in presentation and style, is true to the spirit of the play, bringing the intrigue and violence to life in a way undreamed of in Olivier's time. The point I am trying to make is that the new version really is very good, and appeals to modern audiences.
as he is a prince, and will not look to marry just anyone, such as herself.
Throughout the historical literary periods, many writers underrepresented and undervalued the role of women in society, even more, they did not choose to yield the benefits of the numerous uses of the female character concerning the roles which women could accomplish as plot devices and literary tools. William Shakespeare was one playwright who found several uses for female characters in his works. Despite the fact that in Shakespeare's history play, Richard II, he did not use women in order to implement the facts regarding the historical events. Instead, he focused the use of women roles by making it clear that female characters significantly enriched the literary and theatrical facets of his work. Furthermore in Shakespeare’s history play, King Richard II, many critics have debated the role that women play, especially the queen. One of the arguments is that Shakespeare uses the queen’s role as every women’s role to show domestic life and emotion. Jo McMurtry explains the role of all women in his book, Understanding Shakespeare’s England A Companion for the American Reader, he states, “Women were seen, legally and socially, as wives. Marriage was a permanent state” (5). McMurtry argues that every woman’s role in the Elizabethan society is understood to be a legal permanent state that is socially correct as wives and mothers. Other critics believe that the role of the queen was to soften King Richard II’s personality for the nobles and commoners opinion of him. Shakespeare gives the queen only a few speaking scenes with limited lines in Acts two, four, and five through-out the play. Also, she is mentioned only a few times by several other of the characters of the play and is in multiple scenes wit...
Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, will be reinterred at Leicester Cathedral March 26, 2015, after a representational procession containing his remains that will take place close to where he died.
Of that, I am not entirely sure. I believe that it is because she is my wife and I trusted her. I thought that she could be an advisor for me, someone who could help me make that right choices for myself, and my country. I showed reluctance, but she told me I had to, that great rewards would come from killing Duncan. I wish that I had gone with my first instinct, what I thought then, because it would have made my life so much easier, and I may have come to have the position of king in a non-brutal way.
This is a prime example of Richard using his authority by way of rulings and pronouncements rather than action, even to the point of disallowing an action. Bolingbroke, on the other hand, is quite ready to do battle no matter what the consequences. Moments before Richard puts a stop to the proceedings, Bolingbroke says, ". . . let no noble eye profane a tear / For me, if I be gorged with Mowbray's spear" (1.3.58-59). Here is a man who is resolved in his intent.