Ambition In Pacino's The Tragedy Of King

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Texts provide insight into the lifestyles of individuals from past and allow the modern audience to understand shifts in contexts and values through time. William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of King Richard III presents its audience with the values of the sixteenth century, whilst Al Pacino’s film Looking for Richard highlights the shift in context and creatively reshapes these values in order to make them more accessible to a twentieth century audience. Both Pacino and Shakespeare employ different mediums in order to attract the audience of their time. Both texts explore the idea of ambition overriding the values of integrity and honesty. They both utilised the ideology of an abolished hierarchy in order to gain the adoration of the common …show more content…

The Elizabethan era consisted of a strict class structure and people rarely moved up into a higher class. Nonetheless, Shakespeare elevated the status of the common people and characterised them as perceptive citizens who had the most accurate judgement of Richard’s character in his play Richard III. Shakespeare employs metonymy in “Oh full of danger is the Duke of Gloucester” in order to illustrate the lack of personal connection between Richard and the lower class population. Despite this detachment, the citizens still possessed more insight into Richard’s true character than those closest to him. Pacino utilises this concept of an equal society in his film Looking for Richard, however the shift in social structure forced him to adjust his methods. The twentieth century brought a less severe social hierarchy. Pacino counteracts this modification by equating the average person with the “elite”. Pacino creates a montage of interviews with street people, scholars and actors. His valuing of opinions from all levels of society creates a levelling. The “impromptu” interview with a seemingly homeless African-American man possesses diegetic sounds and intimate close-ups that allow the audience to connect to the film. This vibrant scene directly juxtaposes with the sterile interview with scholar Barbara Everett. The scene lacks the lively …show more content…

Despite the change in contexts, the values presented in Shakespeare’s play are wholly relevant to a twentieth century audience. The idea of ambition overriding the values of integrity and honesty, the struggle of the composer to attract a mainstream audience and the religious beliefs of the audience are all made evident in both texts. By comparing the two texts, the shift in context can be distinguished and the different representations of values are illustrated and an insight into the lifestyle of people past is

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