Discuss how the study of Richard III and Looking for Richard has broadened your understanding of the nature of power
An individual is able to gain a more enriched perspective of the nature of power through the understanding that the desire and attainment of power may have corrupting consequences.
"through understanding the corrupting consequences of the lust for, and attainment of, power." I think just switching this around will put the focus more on the corrupting consequences, which seems to be the original point. William Shakespeare’s play King Richard III (KR) and Al Pacino’s modern docudrama Looking For Richard (LFR) explore
s that the nature of power transcends time and has an ongoing relevance either positive or negative regardless of the different contexts.
This last sentence doesn't make much sense. The texts explore "the nature of power transcends time?" Perhaps, both texts are a "testament to the pursuit of power being relevant to human discourse through time." This way you take away the positive or negative (which doesn't add much to the conversation because you aren't arguing either side) and you shorten it, whilst still giving it a punchy wording. The contextual comparison between these texts is revealed through the portrayal of ideas of deceit and manipulation, evil and corruption. These ideas help to broaden an individual’s understanding of the essence of power.
I really like "essence of power" I think it sounds really nice. I do think that this last sentence is a bit flimsy, it doesn't really do much except end the introduction. Perhaps mention the different forms as being vehicles for the essence of power to be explored. Shakespeare’s Richard’s ascent to power is through nefarious means of deceit and manipulation.
I think the paragraph would be more powerful if you didn't mention Shakespeare's Richard off the bat, and instead just proposed a notion about evil/deceit/power that you wish to explore in the paragraph. Like a discovery topic statement. I think this will give you a tone of sophistication but also a point to head back to for your argument. His desire for power is strongly conveyed in the
opening soliloquy “I am determined to prove a villain,” indicating his yearning to seize the throne, informing the audience that he will wield his skills of theatricality and language to strengthen his villainous intentions of gaining political power. Evident in his attempt to woo Lady Anne, Richard uses dramatic irony in KR to attain power, seen in “take her in her hearts extremist hate.” Richard was practising the maxim of the Renaissance writer Machiavelli where the “end justifies the means”, a political philosophy that is still practised in modern times, ultimately highlighting Richard’s intense desire of absolute power.
Nice use of the quote! Pacino chooses to lengthen this scene
in his rendition of the historical play to reveal Richard’s true deceitful nature, that
previously otherwise the modern audience may not have understood. Pacino chooses specific scenes from the play to highlight Richard’s skill as an orator; showcasing the cutting of Anne’s lines to use his words to convince and manipulate others .
Then cuts of Pacino in modern attire grinning at the camera make a connection between the quintessential actor and director, as Pacino visually delights in Richard’s skill of manipulation. This connection between the Shakespearean and the contemporary’s world lust for power illustrates that there will always be those who desire power at any cost using deceit and manipulation as the tools to achieve it.
I think you've integrated well here, but sometimes the wording isn't clear and it downgrades the cohesiveness of your argument. So you're dealing with two texts at once well, but we're missing out on clarity. I've adjusted a few times, but I suggest reading the paragraph out loud to work out where things jar.Richard is the embodiment of evil seen through his use of power to facilitate evil deeds. In KR, Richard is depicted as extremely malevolent as murdering Clarence defines Richard as an operator of Free Will breaking the code of honour by betraying his family, palpable through the iniquitous tone in “dispatch this thing.”
This first sentence is very long and needs to be edited to be clear. Again, a conceptual statement about the nature of evil and power that you will explore could be beneficial, although not necessary for the highest marks. Shakespeare’s reason for such a representation lies in his purpose in writing KR to support the legitimacy of Tudor dynasty by demonising the last Yorkist King thus endowing Elizabeth I with The Divine Right of Kings. In the transformation in LFR, an overhead and low angle shot depicts Richard high on a staircase, establishing Pacino as a powerful figure and director of the scene. The conspiratorial atmosphere is contrasted by a cut to the murder of Clarence where he is symbolically dressed in white, connoting innocence and purity. The ongoing dramatization
dramatisation* of his death through non-diegetic music, along with the altered death scene of Clarence being stabbed first and then being drowned in wine, adds depth and suspense to the scene for the modern de sensitised audience helping Pacino brings Shakespeare’s language to life by it making more accessible the cultural and artistic legacy more relevant.
Another long sentence that could be cut into two for ease of reading. You've got excellent analysis here - don't think that it all needs to be in the same sentence to compound. You've got lots of room to work here Pacino visually demonstrates that the attainment of power prompts an individual to perform evil deeds made more understandable to the modern audiences, by using dramatic film techniques.
We don't relate to the question enough in this paragraph.Due to Richard’s extreme abuse of power, he eventually becomes corrupted, evident in the nightmare scene and the Battle of Bosworth. The idea of psychological degeneration due to Richard’s guilt for defiling the Great Chain of Being and transgressing Christian values is accentuated by Shakespeare in the juxtaposition of Richard and Richmond in “rape and villainy” against “love and prosperity” which makes Richard aware of the hateful deeds he has performed. This is strategically reshaped by textual form in Pacino’s text. The grand crescendoing music reflects Shakespearean divine retribution as a grand ideology while fast and sharp transitional cuts reflect Richard’s fragmented and broken mindset due to Richard’s actions of going against this ideology. The breakdown of visual flexibility in cut-away’ s give interspersion to the consequence of Richard’s abuse of power. Further, his internal morality being degraded is theatrically represented by the use of two narrator’s voices and shots of Pacino in and out of character. During some parts of the soliloquy, the choice and use of shots/cuts make it seem like Pacino and Richard are arguing with one another, in the way that Richard is arguing with himself, strongly emphasises how badly power has corrupted him making the nature of power more accessible to the modern audience. Pacino via method-acting, acts out the majority of the nightmare and battle scene, compared to the short coverage of other scenes as he wanted to climax the events. By highlighting these events, he makes relevant that the previous emergence of dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini, similar to Richard, were a significant reminder of the tragic consequences when power is abused by ruthless individuals and such that the corruption that occurs from different contexts transcends time. Both texts place strong emphasis on the terrible consequences of subverting your humanity for power.
You're dealing with Looking for Richard with great confidence!Therefore, an individual is able to gain a more embellished
Maybe not the right word? Embellished has connotations of decorative, extra, aesthetic.. perspective of the nature of power through the understanding that attainment of power has the ability to corrupt an individual. The comparison of King Richard III and Looking for Richard and the consideration of contextual changes made, allow one to understand and broaden their perspective that the nature of power is a universal concept.