HSC Advanced English, Module A: Richard III and Looking For Richard, Essay

Connections of commonality and dissimilarity may be drawn between a multiplicity of texts through an appreciation of the values and attitudes with which they were composed. Accordingly, the values and attitudes of the individual being may be defined as an acute blend of externally induced, or contextual and internally triggered, or inherent factors. Cultural, historical, political, religious and social influences, dictated by the nature of one’s surroundings, imprint a variable pattern of values and attitudes upon the individual. Thus any deviation in any such factor may instigate an alteration of the contextual component of one’s perspective. By contrast, the …show more content…

This therefore undermines the force of determinism.

The function of women defined by the prescribed texts yields a dissimilar connection and this derives from altered historical and cultural contexts. Fostered by a society denoted by patriarchy and a traditional appreciation for determinism, the role of women within Shakespeare’s text is twofold; assistance in the representation of Richard as intrinsically evil and an endorsement of Richard as a predetermined villain fated to fall. This function, however, is not in balance; patriarchy weakens the former and a customary appreciation of determinism strengthens the latter. Therefore women as the mouthpiece of determinism may be perceived in a common lamentation colloquially regarded as the ‘scene of the wailing queens’. A pattern of anaphora and epistrophe initiated by Margaret – ‘I had an Edward, till a Richard killed him; I had a husband, till a Richard killed him’ – is evidence of this. Repetition of clause acts as a persistent reminder of the severity of Richard’s crimes and strengthens invocations to follow. Conversely, Pacino fortifies the first of the aforementioned functions. A social, political and economic empowerment of women, coupled with growing secularism allows Pacino to exploit Richard’s misogynistic treatment of women as confirmation of his innately evil nature. This role is achieved through an effective filmic