In Defense of a Villain Richard III is a story of a villain who will commit unspeakable crimes in order to attain power. However, it is important to remember that it is just that, a story. Shakespeare wrote to entertain, and sometimes in order to captivate an audience, history must be embellished. For example, the events the play is based on spans 14 years, although the runtime of the play seems to suggest that it all took place within a few months. Even though this play is classified as historical, it fits more in the historical fiction genre as Shakespeare bases it on actual events but takes an artistic liberty with his characters. In Richard III, due to the political climate of his time, Shakespeare characterizes Richard as ruthless …show more content…
The young Edward V then succeeded his father's throne for 83 days until Parliament declared that the young boys birth was illegitimate and the crown was given to Richard III. Edward V was then imprisoned in the Tower of London and disappeared from all records. Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, are the brothers commonly referred to as the princes in the tower. Their murder is widely attributed to Richard III. Shortly after Richard III rose to power, his former ally and cousin the 2nd Duke of Buckingham rose up in rebellion against him. Buckingham decided to align with Henry Tudor, but a storm did not allow Henry to cross the English channel, and it also destroyed a large part of Buckingham's force. Buckingham tried to escape England in disguise but was discovered and promptly executed by Richard. Later on, in 1485 Henry Tudor made another attempt to invade England and challenge Richard. The two met at the famed Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard outnumbered Henry 8,000 to 5,000 but decided to split his army into three parts, whereas Henry kept his core intact. As the battle progressed, Richard saw an opportunity to slay his rival and end the battle quickly, and so he threw the dice on a desperate gamble that saw him lead a cavalry charge deep into Henry’s vanguard. Before he could challenge Tudor, however, Richard was separated from his men and surrounded by the men of Sir William Stanley. Richard III was then unhorsed and
While Richard left England to oversee the progress of his foreign war, Henry and the other nobles began plans to take Richard's kingdom. This was a crucial mistake on Richard's part. By not taking care of issues on the domestic front, Richard's followers and soldiers grew increasingly weary of his ability to lead and be an effective king, eventually siding with Henry. Henry proceeded to capture Bristol Castle, a stronghold of Richard's and began his plans on being ordained future king.
Richard’s political ambition is revealed through his strategic calculations based on the order of birth in his York family which puts him third away from the throne. Ahead of him is his elder brother, George Clarence, a barrier which will have to eradicate. His brother, King Edward, is another political barrier, by simply being alive, in power and equally by being the father of the two young princes . Richard’s creates a political mistrust between his two
Shakespeare’s plays were grouped into three categories: comedies, tragedies and histories. The histories were those plays based on the lives of English kings. Shakespeare was one of the first writers to write about English history. According to Garber, “before Shakespeare’s time there were few history plays such written in England--- England history was told in verse and prose chronicles (239)”. It’s considered that Richard II is one of the early “historical plays”. The play became so iconic that even Queen Elizabeth said that she was “Richard the second, know ye not that”. Richard II tells the story about a king’s downfall.
William Shakespeare’s Richard III is a historical play that focuses on one of his most famous and complex villainous characters. Richard III or The Duke of Gloucester, who eventually becomes king, is ambitious, bitter, ugly and deformed. He manipulates and murders his way to the throne and sets the tone for the whole play with his very first speech, which is the opening of the play.
Shakespeare’s Richard III, is filled with desires and determination to achieve and fulfill ambition. Shakespeare uses the power of language to explicate Richard’s manipulative ways to fulfill his desires of becoming king, thus doing so by bringing darkness to the content world of others. According to Anderson’s article The Death of a Mind: Study of Shakespeare’s Richard III Richard’s state of mind is oriented around imposing “dark shadows over the positive dispositions of the others’ lives” (Anderson 701); he works at spreading destruction and grievance to those around him. Throughout the play Richard is in his own state of mind, with his main focus on the crown. Act I scene ii, illustrates Richard’s power and manipulative ways through language in order to gain advantage and gain a step forward in achieving the crown. The dialogue between Richard and Lady Anne at King Henry’s funeral exemplifies his manipulation when he uses charming and charismatic words to obtain her attention. Throughout this essay I will agree with Anderson’s point that Richard’s manipulative ploy is a means of fulfilling his ambition. This essay will explicate how Richard manipulates and uses the power of language to exemplify what his deranged state of mind can do to unsuspecting and naive minds. Lady Anne, her character at the beginning of the scene is distressed and angered, however as the scene progresses, Richard’s dialogue with Lady Anne begins to illustrate her naive mind and weak character
The language of Shakespeare connects both King Richard III & Looking for Richard, enriching the significance of each & enabling both to provide continuous meaning for a range of contexts. The apparently outdated language of Shakespeare is given new life for the modern context, enabling audiences to better understand the original text & thus elevating the play. The film Looking for Richard, through rehearsals of actors, cuts between scholars and ‘random’ people on the street,
Connections of commonality and dissimilarity may be drawn between a multiplicity of texts through an appreciation of the values and attitudes with which they were composed. Accordingly, the values and attitudes of the individual being may be defined as an acute blend of externally induced, or contextual and internally triggered, or inherent factors. Cultural, historical, political, religious and social influences, dictated by the nature of one’s surroundings, imprint a variable pattern of values and attitudes upon the individual. Thus any deviation in any such factor may instigate an alteration of the contextual component of one’s perspective. By contrast, the
Ambition is an earnest desire for achievement. Both texts are self reflexive and emphasise Richard’s obsessive ambition, desire and longing for the throne. Each Richard strives towards capturing the throne regardless of consequences and bloodshed. Richard is depicted in both texts as an ambitious character who strives to gain power and independence through deception and self confessed villainy. ‘Since I cannot prove a lover. . . I am determined to prove a villain’ This obsession which drives Richard to commit horrific evils to gain and then protect his claim to the throne. His ambition, power and evil blinds him and inevitably is responsible for his downfall in both of the texts. A connection is formed between Looking for Richard and King Richard III in the final scenes Al Pacino’s interpretation and ‘Hollywood’ background influences an ending which can be interpreted as portraying Richmond as a coward. Elizabethan audiences
There is huge debate from both supporters and haters. The Richard III society claims that the facts we do know don’t support Shakespeare’s story. Recent evidence of two unidentifiable skeletons in the tower of London exists but isn’t conclusive. Richard still had the same possible motive as the play,the princes were in the way of the throne (Hicks, 362). If he isn’t guilty of this crime it could change the way he is viewed. The uncertainty leaves room for us to turn to the one source that is definitive, Shakespeare's play. Shakespeare used this uncertainty to gain our attention and amplify our accusations against Richard. Murdering relatives may have not been so appalling in its day ( University of Leicester, Web) but as time passes we continue to recoil and speculate, but it’s possible we will never know the
that thus deem’. ‘as the fame runs’. His work is a literary exercise in the dramatic
Richard’s aspiration for power caused him to sacrifice his morals and loyalties in order to gain the throne of England. Shakespeare refers to the political instability of England, which is evident through the War of the Roses between the Yorks and Lancastrians fighting for the right to rule. In order to educate and entertain the audience of the instability of politics, Shakespeare poses Richard as a caricature of the Vice who is willing to do anything to get what he wants. As a result, the plans Richard executed were unethical, but done with pride and cunningness. Additionally, his physically crippled figure that was, “so lamely and unfashionable, that dogs bark at me as I halt by them,” reflects the deformity and corruption of his soul. The constant fauna imagery of Richard as the boar reflected his greedy nature and emphasises that he has lost his sense of humanity.
land in the north of England after both the Earl and Anne died. He was
Early on in the play, we learn of the character Buckingham and his allegiance sworn to Richard, the Duke of Gloucester. One can view Buckingham as Richard’s partner in arms. Throughout most of the play, we see the two conspirators design and carry out evil and malicious acts to place Richard as the king. They were willing to remove any obstacle in order for a new king to be crowned. Clarence, Hastings, and Lady Anne are a few of the characters who befell a gruesome fate due to the conspiracy of Richard and Buckingham. Buckingham is completely devoted to Richard’s cause and will stop at
In 1483, the Yorkist king, Edward IV, died suddenly, leaving his young son Edward V to inherit the throne. The late king’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was made Lord Protector of England until Edward’s coronation and majority, and as was the standard procedure at the time, the new king and his brother Richard, Duke of York were taken into the Tower of London to await the coronation. During this time, however, the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville was declared illegitimate, along with their children. This meant Edward could no longer inherit the throne, and Richard and Anne Neville were instead crowned. After the Princes were declared illegitimate, it is claimed they were never seen again. Since then, historians have disagreed about the role of Richard III in their disappearance, with the majority claiming only Richard could have done it. Other historians have produced differing theories, with the most improbable being that Henry VII found the Princes alive after his victory at Bosworth, and others claiming the Princes had never been killed at all. Despite these other theories, history has judged Richard to be guilty of the young Princes’ murder, mostly due to purely circumstantial evidence, as only a few records of the events survive, and those that do are mainly biased being
This focus will analyse the famous act one scene one from William Shakespeare’s historic tragedy, Richard III. This will be compared with the 1996 adaption of Richard III’s act one scene one, directed by Richard Loncraine. This analysis will take in to consideration, the elements of film which regard to visual communication of the actors, costume design, a consideration in the music will also be considered and the period of which it’s set in. Camera angle choices and shots will be analysed and how they convey to the audience by progressing through the story.