Bernard Shaw’s play “The Devil’s Disciple” is set in 1777 when the American War of British Independence was at its height.
Richard Dudgeon is the main character in this production and he begins as a ‘black sheep’ in a family of self-righteous puritans. Richard has entitled himself “The Devil’s Disciple”.
In the first Act of the play, Richard’s father has died and this starts the reading of his will. During this scene we get a lot of the other characters views on Richard before we meet him.
It seems that almost everyone apart from Essie (Richard’s cousin). Everyone finds it hard to talk about him as if it is against the rules, e.g. Judith Anderson says to Essie, “Dick Dudgeon! Essie: do you wish to be a really respectable and grateful girl, and to make a place for yourself here by steady and good conduct?” ”Then you must never mention the name of Richard Dudgeon – never think even about him. He is a bad man”. This suggests that Judith believes even thinking about Richard could mean you were becoming a bad person yourself. However, we find out later that she has never actually met Richard Dudgeon, so is only saying this from what she has heard.
Whilst Mrs Dudgeon and Mr Anderson are talking at the very beginning of the scene, Mrs Dudgeon also expresses her view of Richard. She says, “Let it be a warning to him. He may end that way himself, the wicked, dissolute, godless—“ This shows us that he is even hated by his own mother.
From all of the views shown in the early stages of the first act about Richard, we get the impression that he is a terrible person, with no respect or cares for anyone else. Even when we meet Richard, our opinions as an audience don’t change greatly, he shows himself as quite arrogant and sarcastic. How...
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... a fool.
Judith: Like a hero.
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.”
Richard did not manage to recover from the usurpation of Edward and after allegedly murdering the two Princes in the tower his reputation had fallen greatly. He had lost a lot of respect from nobles and from the populus. Killing the Princes could be seen as one of the major factors of his downfall. It was common place in monarchical families to have brothers and sisters "put out of the picture", but even in these primitive times, the murder of innocent children was a taboo.
Richard was born to an alcoholic, authoritarian father and a mentally-ill mother. His parents fought quite often and lost their home to financial issues. He was torturing animals, setting fires, and wetting the bed. He developed hypochondria at an unknown age. In adolescence, he had reportedly been exhibiting unusual behavior among his peers. For example, he believed he had blood poisoning and the solution was to drink the blood
...e was also writing in Tudor England and seemed to have openly dislike Richard III. In other portions of his writing he describes Richard as an unattractive deformed man who was born with a full set of teeth. He writes that he had a “sour countenance , which seemed to savour of mischief, and utter evidently craft and deceit.”
Richard starts of persuading Lady Anne to marry him. After killing her husband and dad, he still blames her for not accepting his love. With great confidence, he tells her to either kill him or marry him. “Arise,
In all aspects, Washington Irving’s, “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a classic example of American Romanticism. It incorporates all of the defining characteristics of Romanticism in literary works, and makes them stand out. Irving uses nature’s influence, Tom Walker’s miserly outlook, and the weight of supernatural strength, to shape his story, resulting in the story’s exemplar position as the best illustration of American
Irving, Washington. “The Devil and Tom Walker”. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 175-185. Print.
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.
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.
"therefore, since I can not prove a lover, To entertain these fair well spoken days, I am determined to be a villain".As a villain Richard must be heartless, he can not let his emotions interfere with his actions.
We see that good vs. evil has been a theme that is ubiquitous in many writings. The story "The Devil and Tom Walker" is a story about a man who lives an immoral life of greed. Walker lives in a wooded area, where it is solemn, and quiet area of New England. Walker runs into the devil and sees that the devil is cutting down someone else's timber.
...ive for Richard’s manipulation in different ways, reflecting the values of their respective zeitgeists, and Looking for Richard emphasizes that there is no fear of divine retribution in the modern context, but the impact of their immoral behavior on their individual identity.
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.
one of Richard’s consultants by the name of Sheriff Hutton. www.richardIII.com stated that Shakespeare also said that Richard
In Act Scene Two, Richard is very clever and intelligent with his moves in convincing Anne to marry him. In fact his knowledge and organisation led him to having three stages of development in manipulating Anne. Anne was an easy target though. He thought that Elizabeth was just as easy to convince, so he did not put any extra effort in. But little did he know that that extra effort would have saved his life. He totally put aside his manipulation skills and took it calm and easy in Act Four Scene Four, so he had to get quite desperate at the end of the scene. He was satisfied to know that he won both oral battles against the ladies, at least he thought so. But Elizabeth was not as weak as poor Anne was. She had a couple of tricks up her sleeve. She was aware of Richard’s evil plans. She had a feeling Richard had slaughtered her dear sons, as well as innocent lady Anne. She knew for sure that he had murdered Anne’s husband and father in-law. And she had a feeling that he had done more harm than what meets the eye. She acted as though she gave in and made the path clear for Richard to marry her daughter (Elizabeth, of the same name).
In the first scene of the play, Richard announces in a narration, his plan to