Textual Conversations - Looking for Richard vs Richard III PDF

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Looking for Richard vs Richard III Syllabus Terminology Resonances & Dissonances Reframing/Reimagining Mirror Align Collide Parallel/Disparate Values, Assumptions & Perspectives How are composers influenced by other texts Context Motif, Intertextuality & Allusion Values Purpose Common Textual Features & Concepts Shape New meaning Themes Conscience -

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Values such as Integrity, compassion & humility are explored Richard embodies the sick irrepressible obsession with darkness, often discouraged in today’s world through moral & social conventions Shakespeare’s RIchard focus’ on his evil energy with a restless tempo His dream is a metaphor for his suppressed sense of humanity being released - after he wakes, Shakespeare employs dialogue between two voices “is there a murderer here? No. Yes I am” - the psychological examination by Shakespeare expresses Richard’s inner turmoil & the nature of humans suggesting that humans cannot live when ignoring their conscience Pacino differs here as he believes that Richard’s karma is a result of his own mind, rather than providentialism Pacino uses the filmic technique of Montage in order to capture Richard’s fragmenting conscience & his psychological stress being an accumulation of one’s faded consciousness The ending’s are aligned, whereby Richard’s evilness leads to his defeat & death where “no one shall pity him” - both composers ultimately conveying that no one can love their evilness, no one can suppress their own humanity & no one can be a villain Shakespeare portrays conscience attached to the dealings of God, ie through his Chain of Being - progresses from God to angelic being, to animals & plants Pacino diverts from this belief where the equivalent of the high status kings (scholars & academics) are just as important as other cast members - the documentary is a deliberate pastiche of cuts from interviews with actors & scholars, juxtaposed with impromptu vox pops with individuals from NYC to demonstrate that Shakespeare can reach everyone When Richard is confronted by the ghosts of who he has killed & betrayed, he exclaims “O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me?” - not seeking salvation

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Shakespeare explores how individuals can ignore their conscience & commit evil such as the murders of Clarence who only hesitates a moment before taking his life or even Buckingham who supports Richard until he makes the mistake of having to consider whether he supports the murder of the two young princes - “He did all the dirty work & propped up the king” (LFR) Clarence fears death because he has killed others to increase his power “I have done those things” Role of Women in the play represent a voice of conscience & compassion, the scene omitted by Pacino is key to revealing Richard’s evil, cruelty & complete lack of compassion/morality The one exception of this is the wooing scene where Anne agrees to marry richard

Free Will vs Providentialism -

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Values such as piety & humility are explored RIchard is determined to orchestrate his own destiny, “determined to prove a villain” however this is a pun referring to the conflict between his free will & his ‘destiny’ to be a villain Prior to his death in battle, RIchard states that “slave, I have set my life upon a cast & I will stand the hazard of the die” - Queen Margaret reminds him of God’s will & providence The Duchess of York foreshadows the dire consequences of his evil “bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end” Although the defeat of Richard supports providentialism, Shakespeare’s representation of Richard as a seductive & charming villain provokes thought about the place of free will & determinism & represents the renaissance struggle Looking for Richard reflects a secular world with no reference to determinism

Duplicity -

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Values of honesty, integrity, loyalty & truth are explored Both SP & Pacino convey Richard’s ability to gain power through deception & manipulation Richard embodies a dual nature whereby he appears one way but in truth is entirely opposite - ie the juxtaposition of being a loyal brother “I will deliver you or else lie for you” compared to his true intentions to muder him, highlighting his duality & deception Clarence understand that Richard will lie on the chopping block for him however Richard means that he will “deliver” him to his maker & “lie” in order to do so Pacino’s rendition mirrors this through his use of shadows & communicating lies and inherent deception RIII is never what he seems, he is only honest with the audience when informing them of his plans & celebrating his success - he uses irony skillfully to his his ruthlessness & his lack of conscience Richard’s duplicity is further exacerbated by Shakespeare’s use of metatheatrical devices when richard compares himself to a ‘General Vice’ “thus like the formal vice” demonstrating his role as the 2nd man in charge - he was appointed due to a failure/death of the primary Pacino mirrors this idea through his ‘play within a play’ form whereby jump cuts from the play to actors discussing the play are common & also that real life is intertwined with fiction Even after all his bloody deeds, he is able to convince people, albeit for a brief time, to support him In LFR, one actor observes that “all that’s left is winning the people”, whereby Pacino responds with “he’s got the whole world in his hands”

Value of Truth & Reality -

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Shakespeare presents a didactic moral that wicked crimes & deceit must ultimately be met with divine consequences Pacino on the other hand provides a more ambiguous, blurring of the lines in order to reshape the value behind truth & reality This can be noticed between the portrayal of both openings of the texts In Shakespeare - he presents a dual reference to the seasons where the “son of York” refers to the ruling of the York’s & also refers to seasons Shakespeare foreshadows that Richard’s own rule will be similarly short in season & henceforth conveys how in this world, the natural order of the divine takes precedence over individual choice Pacino opens the play in disparate way, eg he opens with a picture of his world yet their worlds are different The moral ambiguities & uncertainties surround truth & acting for one’s own means also displays the postmodern sentiment that we construct our own reality & our own morals The difference in texts respective values or morality & reality can be seen through the comparison of the endings - In RIII, Richard dies pitfully with single stage direction “Richard is slain” - characterises Richard’s death as unheroic Due to the lamenting of the ‘Three Mary’ figures & also the enumeration of sins in the ghost scene, the audience no longer feels attracted to the allure of Richard’s evilness & then corresponds to the unlikability of his character whereby he has an insignificant & graceless death. Pacino contrastingly believes that “the last act is more accessible” and talks about the concept of “earning one’s death”. He utilises filmic techniques such as music & extreme close ups to contribute to the rising tension. Richard’s death is contrastingly heroic as he fights valiantly although there is an ‘arrow’ in his chest Pacion reshapes the pursuit of power from a didactic moral to a multi-faceted tale where on one truly holds the blame, where “there’s no right or wrong”

Artistry -

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The power of Shakespeare’s language; the nuances, lyricism, irony & dramatic techniques are expressed In LFR, actors discuss the ambiguity & complexity of the lines in the play & how a viewer should be able to appreciate the duality of both magnetism & refutation of Shakespeare’s artistry Richard employs rhetoric & clever word play to seduce others & the audience. Imagery & metaphors flourish in RIII & are used symbolically to represent Richard’s villainy In LFR, Vanessa Redgrave speaks lyrically of the power & emotion of Shakespeare’s language use - “the beauty, depth, passion, music of his words” - This is further explored through the African American’s eloquent sermon of how American’s have lost their meaning & feeling “if we felt what we said, and say less, we’d mean more”

Complicity -

Values such as integrity, courage & honesty are expressed “What do you mean tremble? Are you afraid” (RIII) - Richards acquisition of power can be attributed to his manipulative skills & the moral weakness of others

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Lady Anne is fully aware of what Richard has done, yet she is seduced by his flattery & agrees to marry him - Richard judging her weakness accurately In ‘Richard III’ - RIchard is relentless in his purpose, constantly redirecting Anne towards his motive through stichomythic style. His asides reveal his true intentions - “I’ll have her but I will not keep her long” - reflecting Machiavelli’s view of politics & power - that being “politics have no relation to morals” Pacino exaggerates Richard’s nature through his jump cuts which highlight what Richard is thinking on the inside, giving words explicit double meaning, “it was thy beauty that haunted me” followed by “ha!”  demonstrating his insincerity in Wooing Lady Anne When the murderers come to kill Clarence 0 the archbishop is persuaded by Richard to hand the young princes over - removing church protection

Ambition & Power -

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Values of moderation, integrity & humility are explored The pursuit of power is paramount in RIII - he isn’t the only character who betrays, manipulates & lies to gain power All power is corruptive & most ultimately be accompanied with a fall - this message pervades all contexts Shakespeare reinforces this idea through the repeated use of “myself” from acts 1-4, whereby the sentences are short & truncated, conveying the twists & turns of Richard’s inner psyche as he struggles with his own guilt This is further explored through Richard’s last line “My horse my horse! My kingdom for a horse!” - Richard echos the first line of his dream, providing audiences insight that he is both haunted & changed by his dream. By the end of the battle & play, he is filled with self-doubt & his loathing leads to his defeat & death “i have set my life upon a cast” Pacino’s context differs politically & socially, therefore he refrains from biblical values & undertones In RIII, the audience’s interest is directed away from his appealing personality towards the enormity of his crimes This is echoed in LFR when Richard is immediately crowned King, the victorious, rising action is halted through external narration “the emptiness of it”. This expresses a double meaning, him taking a hollow crown & his corrupted nature in which he accepts it Pacino then exaggerates Richard’s villainy through the conscious of other characters - the camera angles showing worried expressions of Tyrell demonstrates the immediate repercussions of his “sins” in his pursuit of power The lighting choice at the end reveals how Richard himself harbours a deep sense of inferiority or dissatisfaction within himself Both texts align in their representation of the uneasy relationship we all share with power as it tends to corrupt others, most importantly ourselves The nature and structure of power is disparate between both texts In Richard III - Richard reflects a God-ordained hierarchical structure, through providential allusions & statements Hasting’s recalls how “loath to bear me to the slaughter house” - Shakespeare invoking the idea that divine providence is apparent due to Hasting’s inability to read the signs of providence

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Shakespeare uses prophecies & curses to make the thought of God visible, communicating how timeless will of the divine will always manifest in human affairs Shakespeare uses conventions such as Resurrections to direct the audience away from Richard however LFR presents power as a human or social construct not something directed by God’s Will - in a 21st century America, Christian retribution is outdated & and all providential curses or incantations are replaced with more human centred ideas of power In the councilman scene with Richard, Hastings & stanley, Pacino’s mundane music & atmosphere of suspicion created through close ups of faces & mafia lingo “gathering of dons” build tension in the room suggesting that all the men are aware of one another’s actions Additionally, Pacino mirrors the pause after Richard states “Rise & follow me” conveying how aware they all are of Richard’s duplicitous nature & the implications of their own actions Pacino emphasises here that modern-day power is comprised of one’s individual agency & it is the complicit nature of others rather than God’s dictations Therefore In SP’s time, power was overshadowed by Machiavelli politics & unrest in Catholicism however Pacino explores & reflects on the United state’s cynicism & loss in trust of the govt

Frailty -

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Richard’s frailty depicted through his deformity leads to two colliding interpretations showing disparate beliefs in both contexts Physical deformity in Shakespeare’s time was divine retribution for the wrongs of one’s ancestors & was seen as motivation for the pursuit of evil Pacino on the other hand expresses Richard through a new lens, a lens where religious tensions have vanished, it is done through his construction of sympathy The passivity of “shaped for sportive” suggests that Richard’s deformity is beyond his control & that when one is ‘shaped’ it is a matter of fate Additionally the visceral animal imagery seen when “dogs bark at me as I halt by them” dehumanises the evil, unconscionable Richard & also demonstrates that the natural order of the world is around him Richard is a passive sufferer of his own physical deformity at first, however he transforms, turning into an active melodramatist, displaying wider arguments between providentialism & free will In LFR, Richard’s physical deformity & expressed through lighting (shadows) & also black costuming These demonstrate how society has shifted from providentialism towards free will since the symbol for evil does not need any prerequisite beliefs in the divine Pacino additionally manipulates & simplifies Anne’s frailty because a modern audience are unable to connect links between the hierarchical constraints which SP audience were experiencing The rhetorical sparring & antagonistic antithesis “sweet soul, foul devil” highlight how Richard’s ability to woo anne is ineffective however he succeeds when he offers Anne security in his “bedchamber” - Anne’s weakness is due to her social position - widowed

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The Anaphora in Richard’s soliloquy “was ever a woman in this humour wooed?” allows shakespeare to question the authority of women in Elizabethan marital mores & also questions Anne’s motivations when marrying into a position of power Contrastingly, Pacino’s audience are able to see the mobility of the class structure Pacino uses this understanding where he is impressed that Anne agrees to wed Richard Pacino uses youthful costumes & casting to show a woman who can be manipulated & trusting without too much to question

Language -

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Shakespeare represents Richard as a consummate actor who takes advantage of the power of words to recreate reality - he utilises different language in order to convey differing roles to the audience He states that “the winter of our discontent” has moved to a “glorious summer by this son of York”- his words enact the transformation he is describing, showing how easily it can turn into its opposite & shows the flexibility of meaning in the world also exploring that the reality of our perceptions are subject to language that individuals use The detachment for the American audience rests in the dissection of meaning rather than the feeling of meaning - the vox pops identified that the current audience believe that Shakespeare “sucked” & was “boring” Pacino attempts to reframe RIII to make it more accessible to the audience & also break down barriers surrounding one of SP’s most complicated plays Through Pacino’s use of film, the audience are able to become closer into the character’s lives & also demonstrates the power of language Pacino also parallels scenes to demonstrate the power of Shakespeare’s language to everyone & the meaning which can be extracted from it After the interpretation of Margaret’s character, a disembodied voice-over of Vanessa Redgrave decries the difficulty of comprehending Shakespeare’s work “word has been divorced from truth” - this highlights how two individuals can come to the same conclusion about language, Shakespeare can fix the ills of postmodern society - further explored in the metaphor of “pentameter of the soul” - describing the iambic pentameter & blank verse intrinsic to Shakespeare’s work as accessible because it has a lingering effect on us

Political Context RIII -

Stable yet Queen Elizabth has no heir. Catholic unrest - ongoing political intrigue Shakespeare illustrates the terrible consequences of suppressing humanity for power - his villains die alone with no respect or love - “there is no creature loves me”

Looking For Richard -

Presents a loss of trust & faith in politicians in a postmodern world “Those in power have total contempt for everything they promise”

Cultural Context RIII -

Queen elizabeth issues a decree controlling the performance of plays, all scripts were subject to censorship - reaffirming the right of the Tudors

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Influence of morality is adopted, eg Shakespeare adopts providential view of history & draws on Christian morality which reflects the modern fascination with the central character Meta-theatrical historiography; Richard’s role as conducting a “direful pageant” playing a range of roles from loving brother, desperate lover, benevolent statesman & prosecutor of the crown

Looking For Richard -

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All productions accept Richard as being a villain however Pacino’s continued reading allows him to recognise that Shakespeare’s Richard is a product of humanism & represents a time of change, “First you say he’s a kind of devil, then you say he’s a kind of mad court jester” He believes that he can communicate how he feels about Shakespeare to an American audience resistant to SP He employs a ‘stream of consciousness drama’ that being the deliberate construct of interviews with actors & scholars, juxtaposed with the impromptu vox-pops with people on the street of New York Pacino’s role as director & actor merge where he controls artistic representations of Richard yet he is certain that they were “never going to finish making this movie”

Social Context RIII Religion: - Shakespeare’s times reflect a shift from humanity’s unquestioned relationship with God to a more secular exploration & fascination of what it is to be an individual with free will - Richard himself represents symbolically, the tension between medieval religious pre-determinism & renaissance humanism Women: - Subjugated & marginalised however Shakespeare represents them as a voice of morality & reason, Anne, the Duchess & Elizabeth are the forces of predestination, fate & divine retribution against Richard’s sacrilegious actions

Looking for Richard Religion: - A secular society, therefore Pacino is not so fascinated with the tension between God’s will & man’s will - he focuses on Richard’s ambitions and how far he is prepared to go to achieve ‘absolute’ power. Women: - Liberated but marginalised in places by Pacino such as the wooing of Lady Anne, where Kimball establishes Pacion’s authority interrupting Ryder to mock her interpretation - Side lighting, camera angles turning away & editing reinforce...