preview

Who Is Richard III A Villain

Decent Essays

William Shakespeare's Richard III

William Shakespeare’s characterization of Britain’s historical monarch Richard III, formerly Duke of Gloucester, is one of the most controversial in literature. To this day there are arguments upholding Richard III’s villainy and ascertaining his murder of the Princes in the tower, just as there are those who believe that he has been falsely represented by Shakespeare’s play and fight avidly to clear his name of any and all crimes. Because of the uncertainty surrounding his true character, Richard III is an intriguing personality to put into modern culture, which is exactly what Ian McKellen does in his rendition of the infamous ruler. However, McKellen’s portrayal of Richard III preserves the basic …show more content…

However, after the brief intro that is actually a part of another of Shakespeare’s history plays, the plot settles down into something that is easier to follow. I understand that there had to be some sort of intro before the beginning of the events in Richard III, but I felt that this particular montage was slightly overwhelming and confusing. However, Shakespeare probably would have approved, in order to catch his audience up on the events past!

The second problem I had with the conversion between the film and the movie was the absence of Margaret in the film. However, I’m not even sure that she was truly gone. It seemed to me that Richard’s mother had many of Margaret’s lines in the film, and I could not determine whether the film designates Margaret as Richard’s mother, or whether she simply took Margaret’s lines for her own. Either way, I think that the deletion or abstraction of Margaret’s character is a major flaw in the movie. She adds a great deal of depth to the play, and actually is a sort of foil for Richard’s character because of the deeds she herself has committed in the past– some of which rival Richard’s. It is possible that I missed something where Margaret’s character was concerned, but it seems to me that her personality is so flamboyant and witch-like that she should be hard to miss!

Despite these aberrations, however, the most important aspect of

Get Access