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Dramatic technique in Richard III
The relationship between Shakespeare and Richard
Dramatic techniques in Richard III
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Hello, I agree with Christian, it wouldn’t have fit the plot that Shakespeare had in mind. I think he actually repents in the end ‒ or, at least, the dream he has before the final battle, in which he sees the ghosts of his victims, proves that he does have a conscience after all. However, it is too late for him to change ‒ he has gone too far. Richmond is coming to challenge him for the throne, and Richard cannot appear weak. In order to maintain his power over England, he has to continue to appear strong and ruthless. As we will probably hear in tomorrow’s session, Richard III was not deformed ‒ at least not as much as Shakespeare depicted him ‒ and he was not even so evil. Shakespeare, like others before him, turned him into a deformed villain for a reason, namely to legitimate the Tudor dynasty. …show more content…
The former is evil, ruthless and deformed, the latter is good, humble and physically flawless. They are each other’s opposites. However, I wonder if Shakespeare modified the character of Richmond in order to highlight even more the differences between him and “evil” Richard III. What do you think? Don’t you have the impression that he is too perfect to be real? I would like to add just a little fun fact: while I was doing some research for my presentation on Richard III, I discovered that the Disney movie The Lion King was partially inspired by Shakespeare’s Richard III, especially when it comes to the character of Scar. In fact, both Scar and Richard are physically deformed and both are ready to do anything to become king ‒ even to commit some terrible
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...
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.
...remained constant regardless of environment. Evidently, the play itself manipulates the audience’s perception of reality as it presents a historical recount designed to solidify the ruling monarch, and condemn Richard. This one-sided portrayal is achieved through animal imagery of a “usurping boar”, as Shakespeare’s pro-monarch propaganda highlights how duplicitous representations of reality may influence a society, regardless of context.
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.
But Buckingham knows what to do. He tells Richard to take two priests with him, since the people are very religious and will follow the priest's’ actions. After doing as if he was denying the request for being the king, the crowd tried to persuade him. Because of doing as if he didn’t want the crown, the crowd thought they could trust him more, and begged him to be the king. Eventually he said yes, and finally became king of England. He orders Buckingham to kill prince Edward, but Buckingham refuses to. He asks for his Earlship, but Richard gets mad and dismisses him. He knows he also has to get rid of Buckingham now, since he is not loyal to him anymore. He hires a murderer called Tyrrel to kill the princes and finally he got rid of
...f control of scenes and verbal encounters, which finally ends with his magnificent downfall. [implement more Margaret control/curses/competition in the beginning]. Despite Richard's best attempts to write his own ending, the audience is now forced with the truth that it was Margaret's prophecy that ripened to fruition. With Richard's final soliloquy taking blame for his actions and "the outward movement away from any semblance of Richard's control, completes the separation of Richard and audience" (Schellenberg 66). Through the course of Act V, Richard takes part in only two of the six scenes. Of these two scenes, he shares the stage with Richmond, the rising actor to take the lead role.
Shakespeare's villains seem to fall into one of two categories: those who are villainous of heart (inherently and genuinely evil or Machiavellian) and those who are circumstantially turned antagonists. Richard III's carefully plotted plans to usurp the throne contrast heavily against Aaron's (of Titus Andronicus) rambling which contrasts with Aaron's lack of action. The motivations of these two characters are different however. Richard seizes the opportunity to take over the throne by Machiavellian means when presented with the opportunity. Aaron represents the evil presumed of a "godless moor," his character being a symbol as much as his skin colour particularly to an audience familiar with the conquests.
This contributes to a very villainous role. Richard begins his journey to the throne. He manipulates Lady Anne. into marrying him, even though she knows that he murdered her first. husband.
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)
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.
Richard III couldn’t have been deformed as Shakespeare said that he was, because in real life Richard III was a knight that
A general conclusion of most critics is that Richard II is a play about the deposition of a "weak and effeminate" king. That he was a weak king, will be conceded. That he was an inferior person, will not. The insight to Richard's character and motivation is to view him as a person consistently acting his way through life. Richard was a man who held great love for show and ceremony. This idiosyncrasy certainly led him to make decisions as king that were poor, and in effect an inept ruler. If not for this defect in character, Richard could be viewed as a witty, intelligent person, albeit ill-suited for his inherited occupation.
Richard III, originally a playwright, is adapted to a cinematic format, to display Richard III as a very real, truly evil, dictator with massive manipulation skills. The play Richard III, written by William Shakespeare has been adapted first to the big screen in 1955 by Laurence Olivier, and again in 1995 by director Richard Loncraine. Director Richard Loncraine truly embodies the ideas of William Shakespeare’s Richard III, by closely following the entire original plot of the play. He builds the film closely around Richard’s struggle to become king, stay in power, and wrongfully dispose of those who rightfully deserve the throne. Focusing both the play, and the film solely on Richard’s undying thirst for the kingdom, and blood at whatever
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.
I think that Shaw made us change our opinion of Richard in the context of the story that he is telling because it shows us how even the ‘worst’ people among us can change, or that these people are not so bad after all, just covering up their true selves until the time is right. Anderson (whilst talking to the British soldiers) says, “Sir: it is in the hour of trial that a man finds his true profession. This foolish young man [placing his hand on Richard's shoulder] boasted himself the Devil's Disciple, but when the hour of trial came to him, he found that it was his destiny to suffer and be faithful to the death. I thought myself a decent minister of the gospel of peace, but when the hour of trial came to me, I found that it was my destiny to be a man of action and that my place was amid the thunder of the captains and the shouting.”