Important Issues of Leadership in William Shakespeare's Richard II Richard II was one of Shakespeare's political works depicting the rise and fall of King Richard II. Richard became king of England as a boy at 10 years of age, although his advisors made most of the political decisions of the kingdom until he matured. During this maturation period, Richard was more interested in learning about aesthetic things in life rather than things more responsible to the monarch. He had very little experience and talent in the areas of military tactics and his decisions relating to the monarch seemed arbitrary. These traits that Richard displayed were not befitting to a king and a man who was suppose to lead. Rather than look out for the interests of his people, Richard was more inclined to favor the interests of the rich and greedy. He implemented excessive taxing, and took profits by appropriating other peoples land for his own benefit and to fund a foreign war. Richard also went as far as alienating himself from his most important supporters, the nobleman. Ultimately, this led to...
In the first scene of the play, Richard announces in a narration, his plan to become king. Richard plainly states that he is "Deformed, Unfinished, and sent before his time" and "since he cannot prove to be a lover; he is determined to prove a villain." As a villain Richard must be heartless, he cannot let his emotions interfere with his actions. He must also be intelligent and organized; a villain must know exactly what he has to do, when he has to do it and how he is going to do it. A villain must also be manipulative and persuasive so that if he is accused of a crime or if he finds himself between a rock and a hard place he is able to talk his way out or convince people that he did not commit the crimes in question. A villain must also have scapegoats to use if he is discovered or if he is in a dangerous situation. Richard devised a brutal stratagem to ascend the English throne. Brilliantly, he executed his plan. Heartlessly, he executed family, friends, and subjects. Richard did indeed display these characteristics and therefore fulfilled his goal to ascend the throne, as you will see in the paragraphs below.
Richard III, the infamous last Yorkist King of England, stigmatised throughout history as a tyrannical, urspring, monarchy. Hundreds of years after his death, he still arises in discussion as truth has been replaced by opinion. His portrayal has been distorted and therefore the legitimacy of the claims are debatable as to whether he was indeed authoritative or misunderstood. After Richard’s death in 1485 AD during the battle of the Bosworth Field, Henry VII seized the throne becoming the first Tudor king. To eradicate any honorable legacy of Richard Henry VII he planned a policy of Tudor propaganda which lasted for the next 100 years before the ‘Ricardians ’ began questioning the accounts. The notoriety he possessed originally arose from Tudor
...undeveloped by some because of the irrational and sporadic murderous events that the main character takes part in. Although Richard may seem undeveloped, the contrary is tangible. Richard's ability to manipulate and control those around him is evidence enough of his characters complexity. Not only does he have this skill of language working for him, but his ambitious nature creates opportunities for him to utilize his skill. Shakespeare's uses dreams, throughout the play, to foreshadow the events to come. Richard believes that his nightmare is truthful and that he will pay for his sins, while Clarence was uncertain about his dream and Hastings completely dismissed Stanley's dream. This shows that Richard's mental awareness is higher than that of his brother and nobleman. Although Richard is successful in becoming king of England, his success is short lived.
Trait Leadership is defined as leaders who are born with an innate ability to guide others and get followers naturally, this enables them to excel in leadership roles without much problem. Being born with an innate ability also has nothing to do with bloodline or lineage, a natural born leader can be from anywhere so long as they understand how to use what they have been given. With the ability to easily gain followers due to a natural ability of action as a leader, trait leaders who understand the position as well as having knowledge about the forms of leadership and how to use their power, will become a great leader no matter where they are from.
The suspense of feeling as if we are one of Richard's acquaintances keeps the audience glued to Richard's success rather than his wrongdoings. Along with his guilted soliloquy in the opening scene Richard adds in his masterful plan of becoming King of England. We get a true sense for his character throughout the play because he never mentions England or his compassion for England once throughout the play. It becomes obvious throughout the play that Richard’s desire to become king is fueled by only power. Richards manipulation of his own brother, George, The Duke of Clarence is his most corrupt action and is also the beginning of the end for Richard. In Richards first soliloquy he informs the audience that he has invented “drunken prophecies” to convince King Edward that ‘“G”’ Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be.” Richards intentions become evident when he places the kingmanship of England ahead of his own brothers life. Richard manipulates Clarence by weeping and hugging him therefore strengthening the idea of a brotherly bond. Richard acts as a universal brother would towards Clarence in a time of need thus convincing Clarence he truly loves him. As an audience we get a taste of dramatic irony for the first time. Richard states earlier that he is the
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...
In the Shakespeare play Richard III was depicted as a malformed mean, ill looking, tyrant. But this was not the case. Richard
One vital characteristic of a leader, according to Shakespeare, is a sense of duty to others. Despite the fact that Shakespeare employs tactics which are “truly Machiavellian” (Roe 2), the events of Shakespeare’s plays are evidence of his belief that caring for others is a requisite of a prosperous ruler. This philosophy is almost a complete antithesis of Machiavelli’s observation that, “it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting.” (Machiavelli 81). Nevertheless, it is clear that self-centered leaders in Shakespearean plays typically do not last long. Obviously, such a sense of duty is not common among leaders in Shakespeare’s plays, which is why the vast majority of them fare so poorly. For example, Iago,
Richard not only desires the throne and to rise to power, but also to have the unlimited ability to cause harm that comes with processing the power of being king. He wants to be able to “bustle in” the world as he
Richard III is a play written by William Shakespeare that involves the battle of two men by the names of Richard and Richmond. These two men are not simply rivals; however, they are in fact brothers who happen to both be fighting for the royal crown to become the next king. The word Machiavellian is defined as a person who is devious, two-faced, and scheming. Both Richard and Richmond attempt to make the other candidate appear to be inconsiderate and not of best fit for a position of power. Richmond is a more Machiavellian character in that he is a fighter which goes along with winning and he is trying to seize power to rule England.
This excerpt of King Richard III by William Shakespeare is from Act 5, Scene 3, and lines 316 to 343. It is right before the Battle of Bosworth, between Richard and Richmond. The two opposing sides have been drawing closer to each other, while the tension builds. The huge contrast in character between the leaders of the two armies is extremely evident. Having just been visited and cursed by ghosts, Richard is feeling extremely unconfident and unsure of himself. As the drum of his enemy sounds in the distance, Richard attempts to give his soldiers a final speech. He is trying to motivate his men, although the majority does not support him. He has to use a variety of tactics to make his soldiers more passionate. The literary features such as
From the beginning of the play, Richard II is apathetic at best in his royal role. By exiling Bolingbroke and...
Due to the powerful influence of the monarchy, the nature, duties and responsibilities of kingship were of particular interest to Shakespeare. The mark of a bad king was the decline of the political, social and economic climates, while the mark of a good king was the blossoming of such worlds. Therefore, the characteristics of the person occupying the kingship were crucial to the health of the nation. Shakespeare explores this issue in many of his plays by examining the traits of poorly fulfilled kingships, and the political and social ramifications of such monarchical failures. He does this most notably in Macbeth and Richard II. In both plays Shakespeare ultimately concludes that tyrants are formed by their own lack of foresight, strong lusts for power, overly large egos, unstable natures and rash tempers. When a king fails his country it is because he has neglected his duties and responsibilities to the state. To do so is to spit in the face of God, the state and the people. Thus, in both Macbeth and Richard II, Shakespeare defines the nature, duties and responsibility of a successful kingship by exploring the ramifications and manifestations of a denial of or lack of such characteristics in the person occupying this position.
As pointed out in Richard III by William Shakespeare, the quest for the kingship can
"What tongue speaks my right drawn sword may prove" is the sentence which concludes a short speech delivered by Henry Bolingbroke to King Richard II (1.1.6). These words are but the first demonstration of the marked difference between the above-mentioned characters in The Tragedy of Richard II. The line presents a man intent on action, a foil to the title character, a man of words.