"richard 3" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

This view of family guilt, of course, makes Richard as an individual seem less responsible. There is plenty of evidence in the play that Richard is to be held strictly accountable for his crimes. How would your balance sheet on Richard add up, either as a victim or a moral monster?

6. APPEARANCE AND REALITY

From the moment Richard announces that he will "prove a villain," a great deal of role-playing takes place on stage. Note the difference between a character's role in private speeches (soliloquies) and in public speeches. Richard is obviously a great actor, but he is not the only successful role-player. There is Buckingham, with whom he compares technique at the start of Act III, Scene V. Examine the truce arranged by Edward IV. How honest are the participants as they embrace one another? Notice the vast number of hypocritical posturings, the sworn oaths and outright falsehoods that take place, and the results they inevitably produce.

7. FORTUNE

The Elizabethans believed that Fortune was not simply a haphazard matter, but an ordered part of their universe. This regulation of destiny was symbolized by the Wheel of Fortune. Constantly in motion, it moved from top to bottom and back again. Those who were on top could not afford to be stuffy since they had only one place to go--down. Still, there were those who ignored or scorned Fortune's power to reverse one's position. Think of Buckingham's rise and fall, Margaret and Elizabeth's past glory, and Richard's swift road from duke to king to Bosworth Field.

8. AMBITION

It's hard to find a character in this play who is content with his or her lot in life. Scratch deep enough and you'll usually find a restless ambition that is eventually declared. The most obvious example is Richard's overwhelming lust for the crown. This is followed closely by Buckingham's desire to help him and thus share in the spoils. Ambition of this sort would seem to be evil.

On the other hand, consider the young Prince of Wales' hope of winning back lost English territory abroad. And what about Richmond's goal "to reap the harvest of perpetual peace?" Do you think that ambition is good or bad? Are there different types of ambition? Moreover, can it always be justified? For the part it plays in driving the action of this play forward, you may find that there are no easy answers to these questions.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: STYLE

Because Richard III was written early in Shakespeare's career, it is sometimes suggested that its simple style is the mark of a young, developing playwright. On the other hand, many find its straightforward, classical march to a foreseeable end as a deliberate and excellent choice for this particular historical subject.

The play is different in many ways from Shakespeare's later familiar comedies and tragedies, which contain more of the blank verse for which the playwright is famous. Iambic pentameter, the five-beat line with stress on every second syllable, is present in Richard III, but this play has fewer poetic passages than his later ones. The intensity of Clarence's dream is a good example. Here poetry, with its ability to compress ideas into a few powerful images, brings Clarence's fear and guilt into clear focus. Tyrrel's description of the murder of Edward IV's sons in the Tower is also made more effective through the use of verse.

Equally skillful is Shakespeare's use of symbols and imagery. The obvious use of the sun and its relationship to the king is extended by references to light and darkness. Shadows and mirror images make you aware of what is good and true or what is bad and false. A virtual menagerie of animal references reminds the audience of the high or low esteem in which a character is held. Notice, too, how often references to food and meals are used to underscore the abstract appetite for power. The importance of the rule of law is stressed by the use of legal terminology (e.g., "windy attorneys," "libels," and "perjury").

Equally effective are the technical devices of speech which Shakespeare borrowed from classical drama. Particularly noticeable in this play is the use of stichomythia, a short, rhythmic exchange of words in equal balance.

Shakespeare also works a form of the ancient Greek chorus into Richard III. When Margaret, whose prophetic role is similar to that of a chorus, is joined by the other women in Act IV, Scene IV, their chorus of lamentation has an ancient religious quality that may remind you of another level of concern--the presence of a Higher Authority in the affairs of human beings.

Shakespeare uses language to produce rapid and convincing characterizations. A superb actor such as Richard can change his manner of speaking to suit his needs of the moment. Others are generally consistent and true to their class. The nobles and members of the court use a formal, somewhat elegant speech, while the common people speak in plainer terms. When that pattern is broken, it is deliberate. When the Third Citizen offers his pessimistic vision of trouble ahead ("When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks"), the impact is all the greater. For all its classical devices, verse, imagery, and the like, Richard III is remarkably uncomplicated.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH

All languages change. Differences in pronunciation and word choice are apparent even between parents and their children. If language differences can appear in one generation, it is only to be expected that the English used by Shakespeare four hundred years ago will diverge markedly from the English used today. The following information on Shakespeare's language will help you in your understanding of Richard III.

^^^^^^^^^^RICHARD III: MOBILITY OF WORD CLASSES

Adjectives, nouns, and verbs were more freely interchanged during Shakespeare's day. Adjectives were often used as nouns, as in:

We are the Queen's abjects [that is, abject subjects]
(I, i, 106)

and:

Now fair [that is, fair times] befall thee and thy noble house!
(I, iii, 281)

Adjectives functioned also as adverbs. "Fair," for example, is used where we would now require "fairly":

Either be patient and entreat me fair.
(IV, iv, 152)