Summary Practice King Richard III essay + teacher feedback
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Course
English
Institution
5
Question: To what extent does the textual conversation between Richard III and Looking for Richard create a revelation that Shakespeare and Pacino both cosied up to and betrayed the status quo?
Includes valuable teacher feedback.
Written by a band 6 student.
To what extent does the textual conversation between Richard III and Looking for
Richard create a revelation that Shakespeare and Pacino both cosied up to and betrayed
the status quo?
[It would be good to see you relax into this question by conversing with it a bit more - what is
the ‘staus quo’ [dominant contextual matters for each text] - how does each ‘cosy up’ -how and
then how does each stick the knife into their time’s practices, values and cultures. Critically
though, how does studying them together [listening to and observing the conversation between
them] REVEAL this practice of cosying then betraying - of playing by the rules to begin with but
then once the rules are understood trying to break them to push into newer ways of thinking and
creating: much like the character Richard himself]
Shakespeare’s tragedy Richard III (RIII), 1591, and Al Pacino’s docudrama Looking for Richard
(LFR), 1997, both experiment with the role of literature in society [good] by simultaneously
portraying social values [which main ones in each?], and defying them [how - identify a couple
of main ways each does]., To do this Shakespeare engages in a textual conversation with
cruelly distorted historical representations of the man Richard III to please the Tudors and then
amplifies these yet again but at the same time undercuts the standard view of Richard as
completely evil and offers him with wit, courage and spares him some pity which sits more
comfortably with his emerging humanist view. And Pacino takes Shakespeare’s revered classic
play and adheres to much that Sh did with this character but then resurrects Richard in fresh
ways to speak for Shakespeare’s genius but challenges his assessment of Richard at the same
time. Pacino also mocks the English monarchic system and values and also critiques American
self-serving political types while understanding that systems help support corrupt powers.
Textual conversations allow us to make comparisons and see fault lines to better reveal how the
texts ‘cosy up to and betray the status quo’ - especially with Richard’s characterisation within
RIII, and the theme of high literature and scholarly authority in LFR and each uses textual forms
they’ve been given drama and film respectively which they go on to manipulate - which may be
seen more as an enhancement and less a betrayal.
I’ve probably interrupted too much - but try and put some more specific ‘hooks’ into your
introduction in the order you’ll discuss them - you did a good job in thinking with some
complexity about the branches of the ‘status quo’ each sucker-punched. The representation of
Richard; the role of literature and art; the nature and value of political powers [no doubt there
may be others but you have limited time]. Identify the ‘magic’ of conversation for revealing:
comparison and contrast, or the juxtaposition of reading these texts as a conversation allows
you to see with a multiple perspective and a broader view - assumptions get challenged and
both Sh and Pacino build in self-reflexive depictions about the constructions they make - the
‘cosying up’ - or borrowing, adherence, closeness to what’s ‘normalised’ in terms of cultural,
historical and ethical ideas but as thinkers and culture-,akers themselves they also seek to
rethink, reappraise and steer their audiences into less chartered, rebel territory.
In his play, Shakespeare builds upon the legacy of historic representations of King Richard III,
who has been villainised by writers sympathetic to the Tudor rule in efforts to certify Henry VII’s
claim to the throne. Shakespeare takes these popularly ‘accepted’ versions from his time and
reconsiders Richard’s character in a more dramatic way which appears to conform to traditional
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