WWWBoard/LT

Renaissance Forum   Humanities & Classics 1002

[ HOME] [ POST ] [ SEARCH ] [ HELP ]

Well, Machiavelli is kind of old news by now, but since we are moving into Shakespeare I thought I would bring something up. If anyone has ever read the play Richard III, one of Shakespeare's history plays, it is like reading a description of Machiavelli's ideal prince. Richard III is nasty, but he masks his nastiness in order to obtain the throne.

Richard is like eighth in line for the throne. His brother, the current King becomes ill and dies. One down, seven to go. Next in line is his brother, George. Richard has his murdered. Next in line are Richard's two nephews, King Edward's sons. Ironically, Richard is appointed their protectorate because they are still too young to rule. They mysteriously disappear from the tower where they are being held for "protection" from possible wrong-doers. There is nobody like Shakespeare when it comes to making history come alive. However, Shakespeare does take a lot of artistic liberty when it comes to history. He has Richard's brother, King Edward, die in the same act that Richard kills his other brother, George. In reality there were five years in between these deaths. Five years, a few minutes, what's the difference?

Anyway, my point is that Shakespeare can be counted among the many Renaissance people who were influenced by works like Machiavelli's "The Prince". Shakespeare has no qualms about modeling his Richard III in every way after a Machiavellian prince. How would Richard respond to accusations of his heartless behavior towards his kinsmen? Alas, it was all for the good of the state. We couldn't have Great Britain ruled by a little boy now could we? Richard is truly a prince among men.

If you don't want to read the play, there are two really good movies you can watch. One is called, "Searching for Richard" starring Al Pacino and another one is called "Richard III" and it is set during World War II. It features Robert Downey, Jr. Both of these movies are worth watching and they give you a good, modern idea of how a Machiavellian prince would act, if you can't find enough examples in daily life.

Adios!

A choice line from the play, when Richard's hired hit-men go to knock-off his brother, George.

"Take that, and that. And if that weren't enough, I'll drown you in the malmsey-butt within." I laughed out loud when I read that line!!!

Follow Ups:

POST FOLLOWUP

NAME:
E-MAIL:
SUBJECT:

RESPONSE:
: Well, Machiavelli is kind of old news by now, but since we are moving into Shakespeare I thought I would bring something up. If anyone has ever read the play Richard III, one of Shakespeare's history plays, it is like reading a description of Machiavelli's ideal prince. Richard III is nasty, but he masks his nastiness in order to obtain the throne. : Richard is like eighth in line for the throne. His brother, the current King becomes ill and dies. One down, seven to go. Next in line is his brother, George. Richard has his murdered. Next in line are Richard's two nephews, King Edward's sons. Ironically, Richard is appointed their protectorate because they are still too young to rule. They mysteriously disappear from the tower where they are being held for "protection" from possible wrong-doers. There is nobody like Shakespeare when it comes to making history come alive. However, Shakespeare does take a lot of artistic liberty when it comes to history. He has Richard's brother, King Edward, die in the same act that Richard kills his other brother, George. In reality there were five years in between these deaths. Five years, a few minutes, what's the difference? : Anyway, my point is that Shakespeare can be counted among the many Renaissance people who were influenced by works like Machiavelli's "The Prince". Shakespeare has no qualms about modeling his Richard III in every way after a Machiavellian prince. How would Richard respond to accusations of his heartless behavior towards his kinsmen? Alas, it was all for the good of the state. We couldn't have Great Britain ruled by a little boy now could we? Richard is truly a prince among men. : If you don't want to read the play, there are two really good movies you can watch. One is called, "Searching for Richard" starring Al Pacino and another one is called "Richard III" and it is set during World War II. It features Robert Downey, Jr. Both of these movies are worth watching and they give you a good, modern idea of how a Machiavellian prince would act, if you can't find enough examples in daily life. : Adios! : A choice line from the play, when Richard's hired hit-men go to knock-off his brother, George. : "Take that, and that. And if that weren't enough, I'll drown you in the malmsey-butt within." I laughed out loud when I read that line!!! : :

LINK URL:
LINK TITLE:
IMAGE URL:

---

[ HOME] [ POST ] [ SEARCH ] [ HELP ]

---

[ FOLLOW UPS ] [ POST FOLLOWUP ]

---

 

v 1.1 is made possbile by:

Original WWWBoard design and code by Matt Wright.  See the original at Matt's Script Acrhive. WWWBoard v2.0a © 1998 Matt Wright. WWWBoard/LT Upgrade by Lion Templin of Leonine Computational Resources.  © 1998 Lion Templin. Tom Bacig, University of Minnesota, Duluth.  © 1998 Tom Bacig.