Villain or hero? - Shakespeare's image of Richard III

Villain or hero? - Shakespeare's image of Richard III PDF

Author:

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2012-10-02

Total Pages: 16

ISBN-13: 3656282048

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Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 2,0, University of Heidelberg (Anglistisches Seminar), language: English, abstract: In contemporary books about the English history, the entry about Richard III reads approximately as follows: According to popular belief the most villainous King in English history was a hunchback who plotted all his life to become King. This relentless pursuit of the crown was done at any cost, even it seems down to the murder of the royal princes, the sons of Edward IV [...]. When reading on, most of the works revise their opinion and admit that actually Richard was not any more blood thirsty or brutal than other contemporary monarchs, that the “popular belief” that he killed his Nephews in the Tower, and that he was malformed, was actually not a fact, but an assumption, which has not been proven up to this day. Although most of the time the reliable sources revise their opinion about this monarch a few paragraphs later, the first impression on the history-interested person is made. The question here is what creates or created this image of the villainous and deformed Richard III? Some history books mention William Shakespeare’s history The Tragedy of King Richard III as one of the possible works that have been influencing the people’s opinions about this English king. This essay is intended to analyze in what way Shakespeare’s work undermines this thesis and what picture he really drew of the monarch Richard III. In order to understand this complex matter, the essay will guide through the historical background of the drama and will try to analyze the notion of Shakespeare’s portrayal. Furthermore, as the character of Richard appears in earlier plays already, the beginnings of the character will be presented in order to highlight the complexity of the character’s development. In addition, two characterizing scenes will be examined, so that the different views on Richard’s complexion can be observed. The last part consists of a short analysis of Richard’s counterpart Richmond, which emphasizes the impact that Richard’s complexion has on the audience.

Commentary on Shakespeare's Richard III

Commentary on Shakespeare's Richard III PDF

Author: Wolfgang Clemen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-11

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1136559361

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First published in 1968. Providing a detailed and rigorous analysis of Richard III, this Commentary reveals every nuance of meaning whilst maintaining a firm grasp on the structure of the play. The result is an outstanding lesson in the methodology of Shakespearian criticism as well as an essential study for students of the early plays of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare - The Disturbing World of Richard III and Edmund

Shakespeare - The Disturbing World of Richard III and Edmund PDF

Author: Tanja Lins

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2007-12

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13: 3638764265

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Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 90% (High Distinction-highest), Monash University Melbourne (School of Literature), course: Shakespeare- Interpretations and Transmutations, 16 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: 'Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York' (Richard III, 1.1.1). The famous opening scene of the 'history play' Richard III is known throughout the world and not a few spectators have been fascinated by the character of Richard described by Greenblatt as the 'monster of evil' or the 'virtual devil incarnate' (1997, p.507). In the play itself, Richard is characterized by Margaret as 'elvish-marked, abortive rooting hog' (1.3.227). The play focuses on Richard, who murders his way to the crown. Shakespeare's Edmund in King Lear shows as well a high amount of ruthlessness. Greenblatt, again, states that 'language' and 'social order' are 'merely arbitrary constraints' or 'obstacles' in the way of the 'triumph of his will' (1997, p.2309). He 'seethes' with 'murderous resentment' over the advantages of his brother Edgar, who is a legitimate child (Cohen 1997, p.2309). Whilst generally agreeing on the villainy of both characters, scholarly attention given to them has been generally less convergent over the years. According to Oestreich-Hart (2000), Richard has been described as an 'intrepid warrior', a 'comic or satirical Vice', a diabolic Machiavel', 'a heartless villain of Senecan melodrama', 'a proficient rhetorican' or even a 'spurned child' (p.242). Edmund, the subplot character of King Lear, has been described as 'a most vile' (Utterback 1976, p.203) or 'most toad-spotted traitor' (5.3.137). Due to the fact that both characters show tendencies making them extremely atrocious and unpredictable, the aim of the essay, in contrast, is to explore the idea of Richard and Edward (Folio- version) being psychopaths according to our un

Perspective in Shakespeare's English Histories

Perspective in Shakespeare's English Histories PDF

Author: Larry S. Champion

Publisher: University of Georgia Press

Published: 2011-04-01

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 082033846X

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Larry S. Champion examines Shakespeare's English history plays and describes the structural devices through which Shakespeare controls the audience's angle of vision and its response to the pattern of historical events. Champion observes the experimentation between stage worlds and the significance of a dramatic technique unique to the history play—one that combines the detachment of a documentary necessary for a broad intellectual view of history and the simultaneous engagement between character and spectator. Champion sees a conscious bifurcation occurring in Shakespeare's dramaturgy after Richard II. In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare continues to focus on the psychological analysis and internalized protagonist which lead to his major tragic achievements. In King John and Henry IV, the playwright develops a middle ground between the polarities of Henry VI, in which the flat, onedimensional characters essentially serve the purposes of the narrative, and the tragedies, in which the spectator's consuming interest is in the developing centralfigure whose critical moments they share. Champion sees Henry V as the culmination of Shakespeare's e fforts in the English history play.

The History of Richard III

The History of Richard III PDF

Author: Thomas More

Publisher:

Published: 2023-05

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781088046241

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Thomas More - a public servant who from 1518 served on Henry VIII's Privy Council and later became Lord Chancellor - wrote his History of King Richard III between around 1513 and 1518. More's account - which dramatised conflicts, provided descriptions of both body and mind, and looked for causes as well as recording facts - was popular and was incorporated into the work of other chroniclers, including Holinshed and Stow, as well as influencing dramatists such as Shakespeare. The work survives in English and Latin versions, both unfinished, with some variation in detail between the two. More borrows freely from other Tudor accounts of Richard's reign, such as those by John Rous and Polydore Vergil, and adds original detail from direct testimony.

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