Richard Iii
- Submitted by: shanny
- Views: 290
- Category: English: Shakespeare
- Date Submitted: 03/18/2014 06:19 PM
- Pages: 3
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How does Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard highlight the greed of absolute power and the role of language in manipulation?
William Shakespeare’s play, Richard the III is based on the events in England’s historical past after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The play is centred at the character Richard, portrayed as the murderous, villainous and dictatorial character. Through Richard’s character, Shakespeare highlights the greed of power and how manipulation of language impacts and changes individuals feelings and perspectives.
King Richard III, distinctive 16th century historical context is accentuated through the analysis of its purpose, target audience and form, demonstrating the power of Queen Elizabeth and the audience of the era. The distinctive 16th century historical context is highlighted through the use of setting such as Tower of London in the quote “should be new christened in the Tower” represents the values of the Elizabethan society as the Tower was believed to be the place where people were sent before execution. Shakespeare’s purpose of writing KR3 was to disprove the Tudor Myth which questioned Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Character contrast is used to present Richard as a cursed Machiavellian character through making him “descant” on his own “deformity” and Richmond as the amiable hero through “fellows in arms and my most loving friends”. This states that the Elizabethans’ valued their Queen and believed that deformed people were evil. Shakespeare’s target audience was the Elizabethan society and to make KR3 suitable for them, Shakespeare used Old English such as “Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end”, thus he stated that the Elizabethan society valued Old English as a form of communication. Shakespeare chose to present KR3 in the form of a play so that the Elizabethan society can understand the purpose of his play. Through the use of stage directions such as ‘They fight. Richard is slain’, Shakespeare keeps the audience informed. The form shows...
William Shakespeare’s play, Richard the III is based on the events in England’s historical past after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The play is centred at the character Richard, portrayed as the murderous, villainous and dictatorial character. Through Richard’s character, Shakespeare highlights the greed of power and how manipulation of language impacts and changes individuals feelings and perspectives.
King Richard III, distinctive 16th century historical context is accentuated through the analysis of its purpose, target audience and form, demonstrating the power of Queen Elizabeth and the audience of the era. The distinctive 16th century historical context is highlighted through the use of setting such as Tower of London in the quote “should be new christened in the Tower” represents the values of the Elizabethan society as the Tower was believed to be the place where people were sent before execution. Shakespeare’s purpose of writing KR3 was to disprove the Tudor Myth which questioned Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Character contrast is used to present Richard as a cursed Machiavellian character through making him “descant” on his own “deformity” and Richmond as the amiable hero through “fellows in arms and my most loving friends”. This states that the Elizabethans’ valued their Queen and believed that deformed people were evil. Shakespeare’s target audience was the Elizabethan society and to make KR3 suitable for them, Shakespeare used Old English such as “Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end”, thus he stated that the Elizabethan society valued Old English as a form of communication. Shakespeare chose to present KR3 in the form of a play so that the Elizabethan society can understand the purpose of his play. Through the use of stage directions such as ‘They fight. Richard is slain’, Shakespeare keeps the audience informed. The form shows...