Richard Iii
Analysis of Richard III
Members:
Natalia Molina
Melisa Ocanto
Melina Pustilnik
Vanesa Verna
Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa
Universidad Nacional de San Martín RICHARD III
1) Richard III: hero or villain.
2) Analyze women in the play.
3) Analyze the use of dramatic irony in the play.
4) Analyze the opening soliloquy in Richard III.
5) Which is Richard 's hamartia? When does it occur?
6) Where do you find the climax of the play?
7) Where do you find the catharsis and where the anagnorisis?
1) Richard III: hero or villain.
In order to analyze if Richard III is a hero or a villain, it is necessary to first comprehend both words. On one hand, a hero or heroine, according to the Dictionary of Literary Terms is the principal male and female characters in a work of literature. In criticism the terms carry no connotations of virtuousness or honor. On the other hand, a villain is described as “the wicked character in a story and, in an important and special sense, the evil machinator or plotter in a play”. We must know that these two definitions are not restrictive of each other. We must also bear in mind Aristotle’s own interpretation of tragic hero:
• “Good or fine”: Aristotle relates this quality to moral purpose and says it is relative to class: “Even a woman may be good, and also a slave, though the woman may be said to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless.”
• “Fitness of character” (true to type): courage is appropriate for a warrior but not for a woman.
• “Consistency” (true to themselves): Once a character 's personality and motivations are established, these should continue throughout the play.
• “Necessary or probable”: Characters must be logically constructed according to “the law of probability or necessity” that governs the actions of the play.
• “True to life and yet more beautiful” (idealized, ennobled). In the case of this play, Richard does not fulfill the first characteristic cited above. This
Members:
Natalia Molina
Melisa Ocanto
Melina Pustilnik
Vanesa Verna
Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa
Universidad Nacional de San Martín RICHARD III
1) Richard III: hero or villain.
2) Analyze women in the play.
3) Analyze the use of dramatic irony in the play.
4) Analyze the opening soliloquy in Richard III.
5) Which is Richard 's hamartia? When does it occur?
6) Where do you find the climax of the play?
7) Where do you find the catharsis and where the anagnorisis?
1) Richard III: hero or villain.
In order to analyze if Richard III is a hero or a villain, it is necessary to first comprehend both words. On one hand, a hero or heroine, according to the Dictionary of Literary Terms is the principal male and female characters in a work of literature. In criticism the terms carry no connotations of virtuousness or honor. On the other hand, a villain is described as “the wicked character in a story and, in an important and special sense, the evil machinator or plotter in a play”. We must know that these two definitions are not restrictive of each other. We must also bear in mind Aristotle’s own interpretation of tragic hero:
• “Good or fine”: Aristotle relates this quality to moral purpose and says it is relative to class: “Even a woman may be good, and also a slave, though the woman may be said to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless.”
• “Fitness of character” (true to type): courage is appropriate for a warrior but not for a woman.
• “Consistency” (true to themselves): Once a character 's personality and motivations are established, these should continue throughout the play.
• “Necessary or probable”: Characters must be logically constructed according to “the law of probability or necessity” that governs the actions of the play.
• “True to life and yet more beautiful” (idealized, ennobled). In the case of this play, Richard does not fulfill the first characteristic cited above. This
Bibliography: ARISTOTLE. Poetics. DICTIONARY OF LITERARY TERMS AND LITERARY THEORY. England, Penguin, 1999. HALIO J. L. Understanding the Merchant of Venice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. London, The Greenwood Press, 2000. SHAKESPEARE, W. Richard III. New York, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1996.