The Evil King in Shakespeare's Richard III
Richard is an actor, a fully evil actor, who through his mastery of the stage has come to appreciate his skill. Richard Moulton, in his Shakespeare as a Dramatic Thinker, proclaims Richard's wonder at his own command of the stage: "Richard has become an artist in evil: the natural emotions attending crime-whether of passionate longing, or horror and remorse-have given place to artistic appreciation of masterpieces" (40). And Robert Weimann, comparing Richard Gloucester to a character in Shakespeare's King John states: "Both characters exemplify a strenuous need to perform, 'toiling desperately' to play a role, 'to find out,' and, for better or worse, to take up arms against a thorny world" (130). Richard Gloucester begins taking up arms against his world in the opening scene as he finds himself shunned in the manners of friendship and love, being "cheated of feature by dissembling nature" (1.1.19), and he decides to take on the role of scoundrel: "And therefore since I cannot prove a lover / To entertain these fair well-spoken days, / I am determined to prove a villain / And hate the idle pleasures of these days" (1.1.28-31).
The physical deformity that pushes Richard to his evil conniving may be nothing more than a creation by Shakespeare to further point out Richard's wickedness. Peter Kilby, author of "The Princes in the Tower," claims that in reality Richard had no deformity, and that Shakespeare created it because "physical deformities were considered to be outward signs of an evil nature" (11). Not so much, according to Zamir, who states: "Various sources tell us that he was short, that one of his arms was smaller than the other, that his legs, too, were of unequal si...
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Moulton, Richard G. Shakespeare as a Dramatic Thinker. New York: MacMillan, 1907.
Oestreich-Hart, Donna J. "Therefore, Since I Cannot Prove a Lover." Studies in English Literature 40 (2000): 241-60.
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Spotswood, Jerald W. "Maintaining Hierarchy in The Tragedie of King Lear." Studies in English Literature 38 (1998): 265-80.
Squire, Sir John. Shakespeare as a Dramatist. London: Cassell and Company, 1935.
Stevenson, William B. "A Muse of Fire of a Winter of Discontent?" Journal of Management Education 20 (1996): 39-48.
Weimann, Robert. "Mingling Vice and 'Worthiness' in King John." Shakespeare Studies 27 (1999): 109-33.
Zamir, Tzachi. "A Case of Unfair Proportions: Philosophy in Literature." New Literary History 29 (1998): 501-20.
Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester, embodies the idea of avarice from the very beginning of the play almost until the end. In fact, Edmund seems to become more and more greedy as the production progresses. When Edmund is first introduced in person on stage, after a short exposition of his character by Gloucester and Kent in the first scene, the audience immediately finds Edmund engaged in a plot to strip his father's inheritance from his...
Because this week's annotations were to be focused on the actor's perspective of Shakespeare, I chose to focus my posting on the same topic. First of all, Richard III is on stage longer than any other Bard character. Usually, the time on stage is not a bed of roses either. The actor must limp, wear a hump, or at least hunch over for the duration of the play. This may doom an actor to chiropractic sessions for the rest of their life!
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.
Stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.
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.
In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays a society whose emphasis on social class results in a strict social hierarchy fueled by the unceasing desire to improve one’s social status. It is this desire for improved social status that led to the unintentional deterioration of the social hierarchy in King Lear. This desire becomes so great that Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall were willing to act contrary to the authority of the social hierarchy for the betterment of their own position within it. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the aforementioned characters get progressively more desperate and destructive as they realize their lack of success in attaining their personal goals. The goals vary, however the selfish motivation does not. With Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall as examples, Shakespeare portrays the social hierarchy as a self-defeating system because it fosters desires in its members that motivate them to act against the authority of the hierarchy to benefit themselves. A consideration of each characters actions in chronological order and the reasons behind such actions reveals a common theme among the goals for which morality is abandoned.
Bevington, David, "Introduction to King Lear." The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
Instead of a powerful physical image, like Queen Elizabeth I, Richard implements elegant soliloquies, engages in witty banter, and attunes the audience to his motives with frequent asides. This flexibility demonstrates Richard's thespian superiority and power over the rest of the play's cast, making him a unique character in the play, but why does he do it? This constant battle between characters to claim mastery over a scene leaves the audience with a seemingly overlooked source of power for an actor [clarify/expand].
According to many, Shakespeare intentionally portrays Richard III in ways that would have the world hail him as the ultimate Machiavel. This build up only serves to further the dramatic irony when Richard falls from his throne. The nature of Richard's character is key to discovering the commentary Shakespeare is delivering on the nature of tyrants. By setting up Richard to be seen as the ultimate Machiavel, only to have him utterly destroyed, Shakespeare makes a dramatic commentary on the frailty of tyranny and such men as would aspire to tyrannical rule.
Altering the ?facts? of Richard III?s history, supernatural elements inconspicuously blend into the play and create a strong backbone for the plot. Clarence and Stanley?s dreams bridge the abyss between dream and reality, while the ghosts? appearance lends horror to the play and reminds all that the higher powers will triumph over mortal evils. The curses of the female royalties add psychological and supernatural forces to drive the character?s actions, thus furthering the plot. Dreams, ghosts, and curses ? these supernatural elements all have a natural place in Richard III, for they weave together the fascinating horror in the storyline and ensure that the tyranny of a mortal man will not reign in the end.
There are a variety of ways to structure your narrative story. The three most common structures are: chronological approach, flashback sequence, and reflective mode. Select one that best fits the story you are telling.
My portfolio absolutely reflects my understanding of persuasive writing. Persuasive writing focuses on the ability to formulate an essay that takes an argumentative stance, but takes the opposition into consideration as well. My portfolio also represents the goals and objectives of persuasive writing. The essays I have written for this course demonstrate that I have certainly developed my critical thinking skills, and developed, or better yet, mastered my communication and personal responsibility skills; but, because of my occasional lack of analysis and issues with word choice, my writing process is not perfected.
There are many ways of how one can start writing any given essay thru plainly organizing his or hers thoughts. Great examples are using free write, bullet points, Venn diagram and so on. The method I use which is really helpful is quite different. Let’s say that I was to write a persuasive essay, before writing anything I would look through my folders until I have found a graded persuasive essay. Once In my hand I would then begin writing the essay following the previous persuasive essay’s structure and rules of the essay. Now, both being
A persuasive essay takes a position on a topic and attempts to prove that position.
Bengtsson, Frederick. “King Lear by William Shakespeare.” Columbia College. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.