Intertextual Connections

Legitimacy

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• ELIZABETH: Aye me! I see the ruin of my house. The tiger now hath seized the gentle hind. (2.4.52)

• Look how I am bewitched. Behold, mine arm / is like a blasted sapling, withered up. (3.4.66)

• RICHMOND: God and our good cause fight upon our side… One raised in blood, and one in blood established; One that made means to come by what he hath, And slaughtered those that were the means to help him (5.3.254)

Enter, Richard, aloft between two bishops (3.7)

Legitimacy

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• "Everyone has a right to an opinion. A scholar has a right to an opinion as any of us."

• SCHOLAR: "The text is only a means of expressing what's behind the text."

Pacino's use of method acting results in his embodiment of Richard's character, legitimising the role of the performer in interpreting a text.

King Richard III, Shakespeare

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• Richard's apparent upheaval of the Divine Right of Kings during his reign, as crafted by Shakespeare, was a concept which resonated with the theocratic audience of his context and thus legitimised the Elizabethan monarchy.

• Shakespeare purposefully legitimises the Tudor Myth through his interpretation of Richard's character as one who is defiant of God's Divine Will, and thus his context shapes his purposeful representation of Richard as a Machiavellian character.

• [I] Have no delight to pass away the time, \ Unless to see my shadow in the Sun \ and descant on mine own deformity. (1.1.25-27)

• And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover \ To entertain these fair well-spoken days, \ I am determined to prove a villain \ And hate the idle pleasure of these days. (1.1.28-31)

Richard reveals his evil ambitions through asides which creates dramatic irony that emphasises his duplicitous nature

Ambition

Looking For Richard, Pacino

Power and Control

• “It’s becoming a movie about a play”; “It’s a documentary about making Shakespeare more accessible to people on street”; “It’s organic"

• "I wanna be King. Frederic, make me king."

Al Pacino falls under the weight of Shakespeare's complete works.

King Richard III, Shakespeare

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• Pacino's secular context of moral relativism shapes his accreditation of Richard's illegitimacy as a ruler to his egotistical self-motivated lust for power.

• Al Pacino subverts the preconceived notion that England is the bastion of Shakespeare as he attempts to assert performance as a legitimate method of interpreting Shakespeare by embodying Richard's characteristics in his own work as auteur.

• Pacino's context, which emphasises moral relativism and free will, shapes his presentation of the American performer's role in interpreting Shakespeare as legitimate, asserting the accessibility of Shakespeare's transcendental values for contemporary audiences whilst legitimising the textual transformation process.

• Richard's ambition to reign is presented by Shakespeare as being corrupt and self-motivated, which purposefully suggests to his Elizabethan audience that his reign was an illegitimate upheaval of the Divine Right of Kings and power of providence.

• Richard's unscrupulous ambition for power is shown to be self-destructive as it leads to his eventual demise, through which Shakespeare suggests that power in itself is not a worthwhile ambition.

• Shakespeare's ambition to legitimise both the Tudor monarchy of his context and God's ultimate power in determining the monarchs is affirmed through his construction of Richard as a Machiavellian character.

• Richard's power is presented by Shakespeare as unscrupulously seized by his Machiavellian nature. Shakespeare's contrasting portrayal of Richmond as a character divinely appointed by God emphasises the importance of God's role in determining the those in power, which worked to legitimise the Elizabethan monarchy of that context whilst affirming their spiritual world view.

• Richard's power is gained through mastery of language and his ability to deceive others, emphasising his initial control over his own free will. Similarly, Shakespeare's control of language depicts the ultimate power of words as a tool used to manipulate others.

• Shakespeare delivers a play which emphasises the power of performance in revealing an interpretive mimesis of history.

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• He cannot live, I hope, and must not die (1.1.146)

As the play progresses, Richard's time on stage gradually lessens which is representative of him losing control

Richard and women in the play converse using stichomythia to suggest the power-struggle between them is even

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• "You're making this entire documentary to show that actors are the possessors of a tradition, the proud inheritors of the understanding of Shakespeare!"

PACINO: "They canvass like politicians, complete with lies and innuendo."; "The truth is that those in power have total contempt for everything they promise, for everything they propose."

Kevin Spacey elevated on box above people on street coupled with line "people buy it. It's a lie". Kevin Spacey dominates half the screen, high camera angle

Looking For Richard, Pacino

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• My conscience hath a thousand several tongues… and every tale condemns me for a villain / murder, stern murder, in the direst degree, / and several sins … 'Guilty, guilty!' I shall despair. (5.3.199-205)

• RICHMOND: Conscience is but a word that cowards use, \ Devised at first to keep the strong in awe. \ Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law. (5.3.327)

• Having God, her conscience, and these bars against me, \ And I no friends to back my suit at all \ But the plain devil and dissembling looks? \ And yet to win her, all the world to nothing! (1.2.238-241)

Conscience

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• ACADMEIC: "Shakespeare has exaggerated his deformity in order to illustrate the corruption of his mind." Deformity is exaggerated in the film also.

Montage of quick disjointed shots with varied camera angles where he dreams of the people he's killed

Red filter over battlefield with narration of "despair and die"; long, drawn-out and violent battle scene (conforms with macabre voyeurism)

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• In a post-modern context which emphasises free will and modern absolutism, Richard is presented as having power over his choices, where his fate is not shaped by providentialism and spirituality.

• The corrupting nature of power as illustrated in Shakespeare's canonical text is represented in Pacino's contemporary film as resonating beyond its context, paralleling cultural tropes of modern society.

• By positioning himself as auteur, Al Pacino shapes his desire to subvert the traditional authority figures who access Shakespeare such as England which is considered the bastion of intellect, democratising the right of the individual to interpret Shakespeare.

Pacino's post-modern film represents the power of cinematography in adding a contemporary layer to transcendental themes, affirming the value of Shakespeare's canonical text in popular culture.

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• ANNE: Villain, thou know’st not law of God nor man. \ No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity. (1.2.70-71)

• But I am in \ So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin. \ Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye. (4.2.65-67)

Richard's deformities are exaggerated to suggest his evil ambition is predetermined

• Al Pacino aligns Shakespeare's portrayal of ambition with the values of a contemporary context as he embodies Richard's character through method acting, paralleling Richard's self-motivated ambition for power in his own work as auteur.
• By positioning himself as auteur, Pacino assumes control over fulfilling his ambitions to assert the legitimacy of the performer as an interpreter of Shakespeare, whilst affirming the timelessness of Shakespeare's representation of values.

Looking For Richard, Pacino

Evil

• ACADEMIC: "Shakespeare has exaggerated his deformity in order to illustrate the corruption of his mind." Deformity is exaggerated in the film also.

PACINO: "They canvass like politicians, complete with lies and innuendo."

Act 1 Scene 1 is filmed amidst chiaroscuro lighting and rapid camera cuts to images of mad people and Holocaust survivors; depicts transcendence of evil as a product of one's disturbed inner psyche

• Shakespeare suggests that Richard's control over his iniquitous self was weakened by his conscience that foreboded his eventual downfall. Thus Shakespeare presents the contrasting nature of humanism and conscience.

• Shakespeare affirms the value of conscience from the perspective of a context which supports moral absolutism by representing its repercussions after the ghosts of Richard's conscience forebode his downfall. He hence affirms the power of providence in determining one's destiny.

King Richard III, Shakespeare

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• Shakespeare presents an interpretation of Richard's character that is Machiavellian and inherently villainous to examine the nature and consequences of evil.

• Shakespeare's presentation of Richard's unscrupulous nature is characterised by the contextual belief in moral absolutism, whereby characteristics associated with evil were universally determined by God.

• Richard's evil nature is explored through a lens of moral relativism whereby his unscrupulous character is presented as being consequential of his egotistical free will.

• Al Pacino aligns Shakespeare's original representation of evil to a context which values moral relativism, paralleling the spiritually-influenced immorality embodied by Richard with contemporary cultural tropes of politicians and criminals.

• Richard's conscience is presented as an accumulation of his guilt towards his impious actions as opposed to Shakespeare's presentation of conscience as one's moral compass predetermined by God.

• Al Pacino subverts Shakespeare's presentation of conscience to one which aligns with the contemporary moralistic view that conscience is a repercussion of guilt associated with unscrupulous actions. As such, he conforms to post-modern values which emphasise free will as opposed to providentialism.

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• Was ever woman in this humour wooed? \ Was ever woman in this humour won? \ I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long. (1.2.231-233)

• ANNE: Within so small a time my woman’s heart \ Grossly grew captive to his honey words \ And proved the subject of mine own soul’s curse, (4.1.81-83)

Richard and women in the play converse using stichomythia to represent balance of power

Gender

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• "We need someone young and innocent enough for the audience to believe."

After Lady Anne is deceived by Richard, an interjected cut of Pacino looking at the camera and saying "Ha!" is played.

The lack of stichomythia during the performance of the wooing of Lady Anne juxtaposes the empowered female voices and academic female opinions when discussing the film.

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• Shakespeare's use of female characters positions audiences to understand the emotional toll of volatile politics and villainy.

• Whilst women were perceived as second-class citizens in an Elizabethan context, Shakespeare elevates the status of women in the play by offering them a prophetic power, appraising the status of the Queen of his context.

Syllabus Reference

Intertextual Connections

This module requires students to compare texts in order to explore them in relation to their contexts. It develops students’ understanding of the effects of context and questions of value. Each elective in this module requires the study of groups of texts which are to be selected from a prescribed text list. These texts may be in different forms or media. Students examine ways in which social, cultural and historical context influences aspects of texts, or the ways in which changes in context lead to changed values being reflected in texts. This includes study and use of the language of texts, consideration of purposes and audiences, and analysis of the content, values and attitudes conveyed through a range of readings. Students develop a range of imaginative, interpretive and analytical compositions that relate to the comparative study of texts and context. These compositions may be realised in a variety of forms and media.

In this elective, students compare texts in order to develop their understanding of the effects of context, purpose and audience on the shaping of meaning. Through exploring the intertextual connections between a pair of texts, students examine the ways in which different social, cultural and historical contexts can influence the composer’s choice of language forms and features and the ideas, values and attitudes conveyed in each text. In their responding and composing, students consider how the implicit and explicit relationship between the texts can deepen our understanding of the values, significance and context of each.

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• Al Pacino's representation of gender through film conforms with audience expectations of his context, emphasising the gullibility of Shakespeare's female characters.

• Pacino reshapes Shakespeare's representation of women by juxtaposing the naivety of the women during their performances with the empowered voices of the female actors and scholars during self-reflective conversations. This aligns with the praised values of equality and free will in Pacino's contemporary context.

King Richard III and Looking For Richard

Additional Resources

Deception and Manipulation

https://www.artofsmart.com.au/hsc-advanced-english-module-a-intertextual-connections/

https://triciaweeksrichardiiilookingforrichard.weebly.com/

https://www.cambridge.edu.au/education/files/2713/8724/1960/King%20Richard%20III.pdf

https://prezi.com/nve025epjmuv/exploring-connections-richard-iii-and-looking-for-richard/

http://www.thefilmspace.org/shakespeare-on-film/resources/richard-the-3rd/docs/looking-for-richard_studyguide.pdf

King Richard III, Shakespeare

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• Richard's deceptive and corrupt characterisation is exaggerated by Shakespeare to align his duplicitous qualities with those of the Devil. This aids Shakespeare's purpose of legitimising the Tudor Myth through positioning audiences to believe Richard's reign defied the Divine Right of Kings.

Through exaggerating Richard's Machiavellian and unscrupulous nature, Shakespeare prevents a manipulated interpretation of history which influences the perspective of his audience to favour the Elizabethan monarchy of his context.

• Well, your imprisonment shall not be long. \ I will deliver you or else lie for you. (1.1.114-115)

And thus I clothe my naked villainy \ With odd old ends stolen out of Holy Writ, \ And seem a saint when most I play the devil. (1.3.336-338)

• [Aside] Thus, like the formal Vice, Iniquity, / I moralise two meanings in one word.' (3.1.82)

Richard reveals his evil ambitions through asides which creates dramatic irony that emphasises his duplicitous nature

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• "We provided this docudrama type thing."

• "…communicate a Shakespeare that is about how we feel and how we think today… make Shakespeare more accessible."

Act 1 Scene 1 is filmed amidst chiaroscuro lighting and rapid camera cuts to images of mad people and Holocaust survivors; Pacino manipulates form

After Lady Anne is deceived by Richard, an interjected cut of Pacino looking at the camera and saying "Ha!" is played.

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• Throughout the textual transformation process, Pacino manipulates the form of Shakespeare's original play to appropriate the timeless values presented by adding a contemporary layer of cinematography to their portrayal.

• Richard's deceptive character is presented as a consequence of his abuse of free will rather than Providentialism, which aligns with the zeitgeist of Pacino's secular, contemporary audience.

• Pacino manipulates audience attitudes towards cultural imperialism and the role of the performer in interpreting a text by positioning himself as auteur and shaping his representation of Shakespeare's timeless values through performance.

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• ANNE: Thy deeds, inhuman and unnatural, \ Provokes this deluge most unnatural.— \ O God, which this blood mad’st, revenge his death! (1.2.60-62)

• MARGARET: That foul defacer of God’s handiwork \ Thy womb let loose to chase us to our graves (4.4.55-56)

• RICHMOND: Then, in God’s name, march… Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. (5.2.23-25)

• I have set my life upon a cast, / and I will stand the hazard of the die. (5.4.9-10)

Looking For Richard, Pacino

Providentialism and Free Will

• ACADMEIC: "Shakespeare has exaggerated his deformity in order to illustrate the corruption of his mind." Deformity is exaggerated in the film also.

Frogs in the background of Richard's dream alludes to Great Chain of Being

Red filter over battlefield with narration of "despair and die"; long, drawn-out and violent battle scene (conforms with macabre voyeurism)

Church bells in background when Pacino re-enacts Richard's death

King Richard III, Shakespeare

Loyalty

Looking For Richard, Pacino

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• Richard is presented as a character determined to orchestrate his own destiny whilst conflicting with God's Divine Will. His demise is representative of God's ultimate power over fate and free will.

• Shakespeare's didactic purpose of affirming God's ultimate power over fate and free will, as well as his affirmation of moral absolutism, is influenced by the theocratic values and attitudes which underpin his Elizabethan context.

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• Richard's gradual loss of power and control is intrinsically related to his loss of loyal followers.

• Richard's lack of loyalty to God is presented as being pivotal in determining his demise, as his illegitimate façade of loyalty to God demonises him and hence upholds Shakespeare's purpose to the Tudor myth.

• Shakespeare demonstrates his loyalty to the Tudor myth through his characterisation of Richard as a Machiavellian York whose downfall is symbolic of the rise of the Tudor house.

• Richard's illegitimate façade of loyalty to God and his consequential demise in power embodies Shakespeare's own pedagogic cause to affirm the Divine Right of Kings.

• Pacino's secular context of moral relativism shapes his accreditation of Richard's demise to his egotistical self-motivated lust for power, and he hence falls victim to free will.

• The shift in social paradigms from moral absolutism to moral relativism influences Pacino's representation of fate as a product of one's free will rather than providentialism, and thus Pacino fulfills his purpose of communicating a Shakespeare which conforms with the attitudes of his more secular context.

• Shakespeare's original concept of Richard's demise being accredited to his disloyalty to God is reshaped to align with a secular, contemporary context which places an emphasis on free will, since Pacino represents Richard's decline in power as consequential of his purposeful disloyalty to others.

• Al Pacino spreads his loyalty amongst both Shakespeare's original representation of transcendental values and his own contemporary audience by aligning Shakespeare's canonical literature to suit his modern context whilst maintaining textual integrity.

Evidence

King Richard III, Shakespeare

• BLUNT: He hath no friends but who are friends for fear. \ Which in his dearest need will fly from him. (5.2.20-21)

• RICHMOND: God and our good cause fight upon our side… One raised in blood, and one in blood established; One that made means to come by what he hath, And slaughtered those that were the means to help him (5.3.254)

• DUCHESS: O my accursèd womb, the bed of death! \ A cockatrice hast thou hatched to the world, \ Whose unavoided eye is murderous. (4.1.54-56)

Looking For Richard, Pacino

• "…communicate a Shakespeare that is about how we feel and how we think today… make Shakespeare more accessible."

ACADMEIC: "Shakespeare has exaggerated his deformity in order to illustrate the corruption of his mind." Deformity is exaggerated in the film also.