Comparison of King Richard III and Looking for Richard Essay

Examinations of Shakespe atomic number 18s tactical maneuver King Richard III and Pacinos docu-drama expression for Richard reveals relationships between the texts and their respective audience. The fifteenth century and twentieth century contexts demonstrates the values of each text and enables judgement of how the need enriches the ideas presented in the play. King Richard III portrays a hateful, corrupted Richard exploring divine justice and the notion of appearance versus domain in the context of the Elizabethan era. With a succession difference of four centuries Looking for Richard reflects the Pacinos following to understand a Shakespearean text through a personal examination of the same character. This docu-drama reflects the postmodernist eras absence of divine order and the change of conscience. Through the comparative study of these texts our understanding of different contexts and values are illuminated.Shakespeare portrays Richards deception through his soliloquies and asides, revealing his multifaceted nature. Richard is suggestn to use happy word play, ridicule and stichomythia he is ultimately cast as the Machiavellian character determined to play a villain. Richard blames his appearance for his immoral acts deformed, unfinished, sent before my time and uses it to fulfill his hunger for power. Richards duplicity is emphasized when Clarence is sent to the tower. Any sympathy elicited from the audience is undermined by the thick irony in the dialogue. Richard appears to subscribe no idea what is going on and innocently asks Brother, good day. What means this arm guard/ That waits upon your grace? Richard then tries to act like the loving brother Brother farewell this rich disgrace/ Touches me deeper than you can imagine. The Elizabethan audience is reassured that divine order will be restored and retribution will be reaped, Richard will be punished for his deceptive act.Looking for Richard reflects the values of its night club as Pacin o attempts make Shakespeare accessible to a twentieth century audience. The film begins and ends with an intertextual extract from The Tempest justifying the equivocalness of the twentieth century this insubstantial pageantsuch stuff that dreams are made on reinforcing that lifetime cannot provide us with st qualification in the search for the truth andmorality as it is endless, unlike the Elizabethan era. Pacinos portrayal of Richard shows his ability to deceive those who trust him hes in good shape. He can move around. He can maneuver. He plays the villain, loving brother, resistant king and expansive lover with skill. The fluid editing between rehearsal scenes, the staged performances and the actors heated discussions reveal Richards ability to construct the truth. Richards punishment is not gods divine retribution as he is haunted by his conscience. The final scene almost persuades the audience to feel sympathy in his death. depression angle shots reflect his loss of power. A modern-day audience understands that humans are multifaceted and do not condemn his deception as instantaneously as the Shakespearean audience.King Richard III depicts Richards character through divine order and justice. Richard attempts to usurp authority as king being the gun of chaotic events. Richard removes anyone that acts as a barrier, including his own family lies well steeled with weighty arguments. His hunger for power results in his goddamned depiction foul devil, as he attempts to disturb divine order. The text was set in a theocentric society, God will seek retribution to anyone who goes against his will, demonstrated by Shakespeare when Margaret curses Richard for killing her husband and son sin, death and hell have their marks set on him. Richards disruption to moral order caused chaos, and so divine order had to be restored. Richard had to pay the ultimate price for his sins Hie thee to hell for shame in that respect thy kingdom is as justification in the Elizab ethan era. Looking for Richard ignores Richards villainous chaos, instead targeting the audience who unrecorded in a world where importance is placed on the individual. This is evident when Pacino states A person has an opinion. Its only an opinion. Its never a question of right or wrong.The dialogue demonstrates that theocratic elements are no longer universally accepted. The film juxtaposes twentieth century values with those of the Elizabethan people to show that people are guided only by their own morals. This is shown as Pacino chooses to focus the conversation of Clarences murderers on their own individual guilty consciences Faith, certain dregs of conscience are here deep down me. Pacino chooses to cut out the religious rhetoric to stress that Elizabethan values seem irrelevant to the contemporary audience. Rapid camera movements portrayRichard as a tormented, psychologically unstable man. He becomes haunted by the ghost of his conscience and is punished by his madness rath er than his death. Looking for Richard proves there is no tending of retribution, only the impact of their immoral behaviour on their identity. In our contemporary context justice is displayed as of individuals own psychological destruction and guilt, rather than endorsed by God.The analysis of King Richard III by Shakespeare and Looking for Richard by Al Pacino extends our understanding of the values and contexts of the texts and the attributes they share. Shakespeares Elizabethan audience valued religion and Gods restoration of rigid order as Pacinos twentieth century audience have no decisive spiritual references and live in a world where independence is placed on the individual. The contextual comparison of the texts furthers our understanding of the values portrayed within two largely diverse time periods.