Power In King Richard III

Human nature desires power and it is this desire that when unchecked by moral constraints becomes a corrupting force. This idea is thoroughly explored in Shakespeare’s 1592 play ‘King Richard III’ and Pacino’s 1996 docudrama, ‘Looking for Richard’. Despite the different contexts of the Elizabethan Era and the post-modern world respectively, the texts share the universal themes of Richard’s pursuit of power and the effect of political power on one’s morality which broadens our understanding of the adverse effect of power.

“The ends justifying the means” is a principle in ‘King Richard III’ where the protagonist Richard, a Machiavellian leader, lusts for personal power causing a complete lack of moral integrity. The extent of his consuming desires
is enhanced through Shakespeare’s exaggerated metaphorical imagery of his deformity as it is an external manifestation of his inner corruption due to his thirst for power as Elizabethans believed that deformity was a punishment from God representing how he seeks power through any means to maintain his corrupt regime. The truncated sentence, “I wish the bastards dead” highlights his urgency to achieve power and the uncontrollable violence he undergoes to become omnipotent. Due to the low survival rate of childbirth in the 1590s, him decreeing the 2 princes’ death emphasises the extent of his megalomaniac nature and how power rendered him remorseless. Richard is often associated to the Devil in which the devil was the personification of everything evil in the 1950s who manipulates others to yield to his temptations, which links to Richard who suppresses others in his rise to total supremacy. The devil imagery in “foul devil” dehumanises Richard implying that he has lost all humanity in his thirst for power. Thus, the reader realises the corrupting nature of power through Richard’s ignorance towards humanity as he is blinded by achieving power.

Understanding of the ability of power to completely corrupt an individual is enriched in “Looking for Richard” as the contemporary audience builds connections with the more relevant modern text. Compared to Shakespeare, who overstated Richard III’s deformity, Pacino explicitly utilises black clothing to reflect 20th century society’s perception of evil. The social cost of pursuing individual power is established in the close-up used in “we don’t feel for each other” reinforces that modern society is consisted of violence with the breakdown of societal values such as empathy whilst the low angle shot makes the subject dominant and influential, alluding to how human nature is preoccupied in achieving power over others. This further goes to show that even in the 20th century, power is abused which degrades the compassion we have for others. Like the devil image in Richard III, the repetition of “deformed, unfinished” adds emphasis to how he is likewise not considered fully human in both contexts due to his tyrannic ambition towards total supremacy. The chiaroscuro lighting also expresses his hidden sinful intentions to rise to power through the manipulation of appearance against reality. Therefore, through the breakdown of the theme, its more comprehensible for the modern viewer evoking an increase in understanding of how our corrupt society still has those who lack morality and will deceive others for power.

With the emergence of Machiavelli’s politics, came the concept of realpolitik.
This rejected ethical ideology in achieving political power as it was asserted that power should not be obstructed by one’s humanity. This is exhibited in the truncated sentence “infer the bastardy of Edward’s children” with the high modality expounding his need to become King thus challenging the Divine Rights of King as he doesn’t derive his legitimacy from God’s will but from his determination to set his own path, implicitly representing the diminishing power of God over destiny. In the Elizabethan times, all plays, including King Richard III, was to spread Providentialism and the belief of divine retribution. Hence, Shakespeare explores the flaws of Renaissance humanist philosophy in the evocative language and pathos present in “there is no creature loves me” which evokes a sense of pity and through Shakespeare displaying the consequences of ignoring your humanity and morals for power, that is dying alone and unloved, a renewed awareness that defying God for power will consequently permeate one’s conscience and eventually be the cause of one’s downfall emerges. Through the demise of Richard, the power God had in the social hierarchy is reinforced and how power is only momentary yet humans still crave it and it is this greed for power that fragments the inner
person.
Unlike the Renaissance period, the egalitarian post-modern society in ‘Looking for Richard’ consisted of a complete shift towards volition and so the social hierarchy that was evident in the play dissipated as the power God had over fate is no longer evident. This rise in equality is suggested in the low angle shot used in “a person has an opinion” representing a democratic society with freedom of speech which contrasts against the autocratic system in Richard III where speaking against God or Kings were punished. This signifies a secular movement towards humanism in the 20th century due to the power of opinions on acting upon what we morally believe in. In exploring the theme of politics in relation to humanism, Pacino establishes connections to political leaders in the negative connotation of “they canvass like politicians…lies” as the close-up reinforces power politics as political action is undertaken out of self-interest to increase one’s own dominance with no relation to what they promised. Overall, Pacino focuses on Richard’s determination to decide his own future rather than Providentialism and links it to modern politics, causing an expanded understanding on the ‘paradox of power’ as we are still ruled by self-interested leaders who use social skills to gain positions of power, yet when it is obtained, they seem to forget their morals meaning that power consumes an individual.

Therefore, ´King Richard III’ explores the corrupting nature of power through suppressing humanity and ignoring God’s will in the pursuit of power whilst ‘Looking for Richard’ simplifies what Shakespeare conveys to enable a wider understanding towards the play. Hence, through the creation of connections between Shakespeare’s historical context and its transition into the post-modern culture through the reshaping of values, our understanding of the nature of power significantly develops.