Module A – Richard III & Looking for Richard Essay

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Module A – Essay

A comparative study of two texts enables the responder to reflect on the factors which motivate and shape our actions in life. The struggle for power and the quest to uphold a moral façade is explored in a comparative study of Shakespeare’s historical play, Richard III, and Al Pacino’s docudrama Looking for Richard, through the depiction of the characters as detached from, and embittered with, their own humanity. The two texts didactically converge on the perennial virtues of integrity, compassion and humility while scrutinising the acquisition of power and authority. Conversely, scrutiny of the contradictory forces of humanism and determinism imparts an incongruity of context, inviting reflection on what motivates our actions in life as individuals undergo the process of dehumanisation in reaction to the world around them. Both texts are ultimately products of vastly contrasting contexts; however are linked by an underlying exploration of human nature and identity. 

The sacrificing of the values of honesty and integrity consequent to the pursuit of power cultivates insight as to how the struggle for power influences the human psyche. Dispassion engendered by the fervent pursuit of power is evident in the characterisation of King Richard as a medieval Vice character in Shakespeare’s King Richard III. Richard is characterised as a “formal Vice, iniquity” a reference to the contextual Morality plays; such is juxtaposed to the portrayal of the Duchess of York, Queen Elizabeth and Margaret who are symbolic of the three Marys from the renowned Resurrection Plays. Effectively, Shakespeare’s Richard is not merely an ambitious villain but the personification of metaphysical evil and these attributes find themselves realised throughout the exaggeration of his physical deformity. Richard’s struggle for power is epitomised within his opening soliloquy, “I am determined to prove a villain”, alluding to his loss of values and morals, and consequently, encouraging audiences to determine how the pursuit of power ultimately shapes his eventual downfall. Additionally, Shakespeare’s condemnation of Richard’s struggle for power  is further seen as he directs Buckingham to murder the princes in Act 4 Scene 2, “I wish the bastards dead,” – another indication of his descent into immorality, elucidating to the audience that Richard’s thirst for power is the cause of this dehumanisation. Both parallels and differences can be drawn in Looking for Richard, as Al Pacino’s and Shakespeare’s work converge to highlight the pursuit of power as being a driving force for our decisions. In a contrasting approach, Richard’s deformities in Looking for Richard are downplayed, and a loss of humanity and compassion due to the pursuit of power is characterised as being the result of an individual’s short-sighted betrayal of their supporters in order to secure their position of power – a typical contemporary view on politics during that time. The inaccessibility of Shakespeare to a modern audience is demonstrated in Pacino’s voxpopuli, revealing the public’s distaste to Shakespeare’s theatrical style of lyricism, prose and nuances, “And descant on mine own deformity” whereby Pacino adopts colloquialism within his voiceover, “the play, Richard III, about a guy with a humpback?” in order to heighten the relevance of the Shakespearean play. Additionally, audiences are able to better understand the power dynamics within Shakespeare’s play through Pacino’s directing of other actors in the documentary which parallels with Richard’s manipulation of characters in the play, for example, when Pacino. Moreover, by intentionally blurring the line between Richard as a character and himself as an actor with voiceovers while he acts out a scene from the play, Pacino is able to contextualise his grip on power for a modern audience, making it clear how the struggle for power is prevalent in both cultural and social contexts. 

A study of intertextual connections with a focus on an individual’s deviation from the timeless value of integrity acts as an invitation for audiences to ponder the on factors that motivate an individual’s quest to uphold a moral façade. The need to conceal one’s true self behind a moral exterior with the incentive of exploiting and manipulating comes at the expense of one’s personal integrity, as seen in Richard’s duality in both King Richard III and Looking for Richard. In King Richard III, the duality of Richard is illustrated after he romances Lady Anne in his callous monologue in Act 1 Scene 2, “. . . I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long. . .”  whereby despite his authentic exterior, it is evident that he is purely manipulating her for his own political means, reinforcing the timeless importance of the value of integrity within texts. Furthermore, the extent in which Richard has betrayed the core value of integrity during his quest to appear moral to others is encapsulated by Shakespeare’s foreshadowing of Richard’s fate as he is cursed by the ghost of Margaret, as seen in, “No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine,/ Unless it be while some tormenting dream” whereby the supernaturalism within the scene emphasises to the audience the dire implications of duplicity. Pacino continues his endeavour to prove the timelessness of Shakespeare, evident as he moulds this scene so that it is of more relevance to a contemporary American audience, whereby he casts a young and attractive Winona Ryder as Lady Anne in order to signify her naivety and therefore susceptibility to Richard’s duality. Thus, the focus is moved away from the representation of Richard as a figure of evil and towards his struggle as a flawed individual who sacrifices his own humanity as a result of his duplicitous actions, further seen in the voiceover which compares Richard to be “like politicians, complete with lies and innuendo,” hence simplifying the power struggles in

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