Shakespeare’s Development of the King in Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, Henry V Shakespeare's plays beginning with Richard II and concluding with Henry V presents an interesting look at the role of a king. England's search for "the mirror of all Christian kings" provided the opportunity to explore the many facets of kingship showing the strengths and weaknesses of both the position and the men who filled that position. Through careful examination, Shakespeare develops the "king" as a physical
In this scene of William Shakespeare’s play, Richard II, King Richard deposes himself before Henry Bolingbroke and must resign the crown. In answer to Bolingbroke’s question whether he is contented to do so, he answers thus. Despite his lowered status, Richard makes a performance out of this demeaning ceremony, in his confusing and highly emotional reply and in his metaphorical language apparent in the rest of the scene. He talks in an ambiguous manner, in his equivocal answer to a yes or no question
The real tragedy of Richard III lies in the progressive isolation of its protagonist. From the very opening of the play when Richard III enters "solus", the protagonist's isolation is made clear. Richard's isolation progresses as he separates himself from the other characters and breaks the natural bonds between Man and nature through his efforts to gain power. The first scene of the play begins with a soliloquy, which emphasizes Richard's physical isolation as he appears alone as he speaks
Shakespeare on Machiavelli: The Prince in Richard III 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
Transformation of Costume Selection and Incorporating Props into the performance of Shakespeare's plays of King Richard, Richard the II and Richard III Performance of plays can take various shapes depending on the director's perspective of the text, the key element, within the framework of the play. In addition text can be interpreted different ways, regarding directing technique, such as style and action choices, and scenery decisions. These factors contribute to the overall result of the performance
Richard III as a Successful Politician Shakespeare's Richard III is set in England after the War of the Roses. Richard, the megalomanic eponymous character, is desperate for the throne of England. He tells us that he seeks the crown to compensate for his deformity (he was a hunchback from birth). Richard has his own brother killed and later has former allies and those who still stood in his way killed also. When Richard eventually gains the throne he finds his conscience and begins to
Richard III challenges notions of how history is created and presented. Shakespeare’s play depicts the infamous Richard not only at odds with the other characters, but also fighting for a different interpretation of history. Richard and Margaret function as two characters opposed to each other with regard to history; Richard attempts to cover up the past as Margaret attempts to expose it. However, the creation and acceptance of history is largely predicated on more common figures. In particular
Richard III, originally a playwright, is adapted to a cinematic format, to display Richard III as a very real, truly evil, dictator with massive manipulation skills. The play Richard III, written by William Shakespeare has been adapted first to the big screen in 1955 by Laurence Olivier, and again in 1995 by director Richard Loncraine. Director Richard Loncraine truly embodies the ideas of William Shakespeare’s Richard III, by closely following the entire original plot of the play. He builds the
Loncraine's Film Production of Shakespeare's Richard III Loncraine's film brilliantly furthers Richard III's role as the diabolical genius. His use of economy and symbolism in portraying Richard gives completeness to the character that the text in some ways lacks. The short but intriguing stable scene in the film makes this clear. The first thing I noticed about the stable scene in the film was the monochromatic color scheme. As Donaldson noted, the muted browns, grays, and beiges are reminiscent
Part One Shakespeare wrote 10 history plays in all, 8 of these make up a series of 2 tetralogies, or sets of 4 plays each. Placing them in chronicle order, the metrologies are: (1) Richard II, Henry IV part 1, Henry IV part 2, and Henry V, (2) Henry VI part 1, Henry VI part 2, Henry VI part 3, and Richard III. Henry I part 1 was written in 1596-1597, and was and still is one of the most popular Shakespeare plays ever written. The reason it is not so popular as other plays such as Romeo and
of Women in Richard II Throughout the historical literary periods, many writers underrepresented and undervalued the role of women in society, even more, they did not choose to yield the benefits of the numerous uses of the female character concerning the roles which women could accomplish as plot devices and literary tools. William Shakespeare was one playwright who found several uses for female characters in his works. Despite the fact that in Shakespeare's history play, Richard II, he did not
Did Richard III Kill the Children? We really cannot know for certain. If there was a cover-up to protect the actual murderers, it was done exceedingly well and so thoroughly that we will never be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt what really happened. In spite of what I see as very persuasive evidence that Richard did not kill the children, there are many very intelligent, highly successful, and unquestionably reputable historical scholars out there who believe that they have evidence that
The Supernatural in Shakespeare's Richard III Casting a darkly mythical aura around Richard III, supernatural elements are intrinsic to this Shakespearean history play. The prophetic dreams of Clarence and Stanley blur the line between dream and reality, serving to foreshadow impending doom. The ghosts that appear before Richard III and Richmond before their battle create an atmosphere of dread and suspense, and they also herald Richard's destiny. The curses of three female royalties are fulfilled
External in Richard III, Titus, and Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare's villains seem to fall into one of two categories: those who are villainous of heart (inherently and genuinely evil or Machiavellian) and those who are circumstantially turned antagonists. Richard III's carefully plotted plans to usurp the throne contrast heavily against Aaron's (of Titus Andronicus) rambling which contrasts with Aaron's lack of action. The motivations of these two characters are different however. Richard seizes the
other play does the chorus have such an important role. The principal purpose of the chorus is that of story telling. The chorus acts as a guide for the audience, narrating parts that wouldn't fit into the action of the play. For example in the Act II Chorus, we are told about treason: 'The sum is paid, the traitors are agreed, the king is now set from London, and the scene is now transported, gentles, to Southampton.' As we can see, the chorus reviews what has happened in previous scenes
Hamlet is a world renowned play written by William Shakespeare. I will be discussing the theatrical film adaptation of the 1996 production of Hamlet directed by Kenneth Branagh. To give a brief synopsis in Branagh’s own words, Hamlet is an incredibly flawed man who is the rightful heir to the Danish throne. His father, the king, has just died and to Hamlet’s detest the queen is quickly remarrying to the king’s brother Claudius. The ghost of the fallen king appears to Hamlet and informs him that Claudius
Shakespeare’s plays can be interpreted in a number of ways, one example of this is seen between the two Henry V movies by Kenneth Branagh and Sir Laurence Olivier. These two versions of the play differ in nearly every way possible. In Sir Laurence Olivier’s version of the Battle of Agincourt, there is a lot of bright colors, the costumes look like they are from a cartoon. Overall the appearance is what one would expect to see at a poorly renaissance fair. Before the battle there was a lot of rainfall
Beauty is very important in today’s society. Many people fear that they will lose their good looks as they age. They begin to wear make-up or even go to the extremes of plastic surgery. However, in William Shakespeare’s poem, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day,” Shakespeare plays on the idea of beauty that surpasses age and even death. Through the simple language, tones, and theme in Howard Moss’s poem, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day,” the meaning of Shakespeare’s poem is made more
David Garrick (1716-1779) David Garrick’s contemporaries felt it would be vanity to describe his acting (Stone and Kahrl 27). Vanity has never stopped Shane Davis from doing anything ! David Garrick was considered to be the most influential and skilled actor of his time. Garrick is credited with revolutionizing the portrayal of character. His concept of ‘experiencing’ the feelings of the character, is a concept that helped lead 18th-century theatre into a new naturalistic era. It was an approach
hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on;” Act I, scene II, page 11. Also Hamlet had seemed to be more closed and not as willing to show his rage. In the Doran version Claudius had seemed like a scarier person, almost as if people ad known something about him that he wasn’t revealing. “Of impious stubbornness; ‘tis unmanly grief; it shows a will most incorrect to heaven,” Act I, scene II, page 9. Hamlet had an incredulous way about him. He didn’t want to believe what was