This document involves two essays.

The first is one that I used for Module A from my very

first assessment task for Module A. I had an hour to write it, so the length is fairly up there.
In a HSC exam, you have only 40 minutes. So the second essay in this document is my typed-
up trial essay. So you can see how I adapted to the question and shortened the essay to suit
the circumstance.
It is often felt by contemporary audiences that Shakespeare’s plays are locked in an
inaccessible realm with British academia being the only key. William Shakespeare’s King
Richard III is textually dense and linguistically prolific – two reasons for both the fascination
with and the repulsion from his oeuvre. Shakespeare composed the play for an audience
well familiar with the Medieval Hierarchy and had to pursue the purpose of supporting the
current Tudor throne. Al Pacino’s docudrama Looking For Richard was born with the aim of
allowing King Richard III to transcend the confines of its Elizabethan context. Through
exploring the theme of defiance in two epochs and converting the appeal of Elizabethan
theatricality to contemporary American film, Pacino provides a new lens for a contemporary
audience so that we can appreciate and understand Shakespeare’s text.

As society continues to grow and alter in its course the basic nature of human defiance
persists. Shakespeare’s King Richard III opens with an eloquent soliloquy as the protagonist
establishes his intention of defiance against the notion of providentialism. The soliloquy
incorporates a prophetic pun, “unless to see my shadow in the sun.” As the play opens in
“the winter of our discontent” because of the Yorkist ascension to the throne, Richard
duplicitously aims to defy the divinely appointed King and aims to cast his “shadow” over
this apparent royal “sun.” Shakespeare’s audience found the current Tudor right to the
thone to be topical and to “prove a villain” of Richard, a York, he had to portray the King in
the light of his deceitfulness and intentions of usurpation as established in the opening
soliloquy. Furthermore, this defiance for divine appointment is supported by the feigning of
morality as a veil for his ulterior motives in the scene with Lady Anne. The mellifluous orator
skills continue as Lady Anne has undoubtable reason to define the King as a “foul devil” yet
Richard courts Lady Anne as he praises “thy beauty.” Richard’s feigning of spirituality in
defiance against the divinity of the true monarch is further revealed through the biblical
allusion, “more wonderful when angels are so angry.” Shakespeare’s play had to project
King Richard III in a way that flattered the current monarch through highlighting the King’s
defiance and rejection of morality and divinity, thus illustrating him to be an unworthy
leader.

The continuity of defiance in humanity is also apparent in Pacino’s docudrama

“Looking for Richard.” Through Pacino observing the role of both director and actor, the
capacity for dual appearance in Richard is emulated. Pacino openly defies the notion that
Shakespeare is inaccessible to modern audiences to the extent that he declares his aim to
“communicate a Shakespeare about how we feel and about how we think today.” Pacino
alleviates anxiety felt by contemporary American audiences about Shakespeare’s perceived
ostentatious ownership by the British by juxtaposing visual stimuli of himself as a basketball
playing, accented American against Emrys Jones, a British academic drinking tea. Thus, the
defiance against the British authority of Shakespeare is a reshaping of Richard’s defiance for
the divinely appointed leader in power. To be true to the parent text, Pacino uses the
dialogue of the wooing Lady Anne scene, a part of Richard’s plan to defy the Tudor Myth.
However, to appeal to his own audience, he fuses the originality of the character’s
encounter with seraphic non-diagetic music to allude to Richard’s self-perceived divinity.
Furthermore, the chiaroscuro lighting is a direct reflection of the duplicitous nature of
Richard and the ongoing symbolic metaphor of the sun and shadow. Pacino embodies the
defiance of Richard III as he enhances the originality of the text with filmic visual stimuli in
order to enhance the modern understanding and appreciation of King Richard III that we
share.

The prolific theatricality of Shakespearean plays has the ability to enthral or repel an
audience. The lyricism, language and rhetoric devices in Shakespeare’s King Richard III
allowed the ideas of the canonical text to resonate clearly with the Elizabethan audience.
The opening soliloquy simultaneously causes the audience to admire the vice’s candour yet
ambivalently despise him for his aggressive machinations. A skilful blend of rhetoric devices
provides a platform for the play to unfold. Dramatic irony is heavily used throughout the
play as a theatrical device to engage and humour the audience. Act 1 Scene 1 line 154 “I’ll
marry Warwick’s youngest daughter” declares the intentions of Richard in a soliloquy before
the other characters are aware. This not only captivates the audience through dramatic
irony, but also furthers the understanding that Richard is a treacherous character that defies
the divine appointment to the throne. Imagery is also an integral characteristic of the
theatricality of Shakespeare’s play. By Queen Margaret calling Richard “the devil,” a vitriolic
image is presented to the Elizabethan audience because of the heavy medieval belief in
fiends. Furthermore, animal imagery underpins character’s connotations. Richard is referred
to as a “toad,” “boar,” “foul swine” and “hedgehog.” The consistency and power of the
animal imagery therefore creates the idea amongst the audience that Richard is more
animal than human, thus he is dehumanised and projected as an unworthy leader of the
monarch. The theatricality of Shakespeare’s play also powerfully expresses conflict, the
essence of all drama, through dichotomy. The opening soliloquy extensively uses opposing
notions, like “smoother/wrinkled” and “dreadful marches/delightful measures.” Particularly,
the wooing scenes involve a use of stichomythia to produce balanced and antithetical
pairings of sentences. Richard says “your reasons are too shallow and too quick.” In
repartee, Elizabeth corrects, “oh, no, my reasons are too deep and dead.” Through close
examination of language, the theatricality of Shakespeare’s King Richard III is a weighty
component of the play’s appeal.
Modern film broadens the entertainment spectrum from Medieval presentations at
the Globe Theatre. Al Pacino enriches our modern understanding and appreciation of King
Richard III through the alleviation of anxiety about the inaccessibility of the play. Pacino
engages the audience through vox populis expressing the opinions of differing public
citizens towards Shakespeare. The audience may be able to identify with the raw
truthfulness of the public, thus contemporary viewers are immediately involved in the film.
The stream of consciousness doco-style allows Pacino to present the organic and difficult
process of trying to explain Shakespeare. Pacino confirms this challenge when stating “I’m
confused just saying it to you.” Iambic pentameter is a word often associated with
Shakespeare’s plays and often not holistically understood. Pacino is given the scope of
editing in his film, and he utilises cross-cutting between various people, including Vamesse
Redgrave, who give their insight into understanding iambic pentameter in colloquial terms.
Our appreciation of iambic pentameter is reliant on our understanding of the concept,
which is clearly explained in the ant-eater analogy. Pacino and Kimball interject at points to
explain complicated notions like the line of succession, which they assume contemporary
audiences may not understand. This explanation is supported by jump cuts to frames
providing visual cues for the audience. Hence, Pacino restates the family lineage in
colloquial language and commoratio so that as a contemporary audience, we can
understand Shakespeare’s King Richard III to a greater extent. Pacino truly relies on and fully
utilises the art of cinema to interest and assist his audience in the understanding and
appreciation of Shakespeare’s play, particularly the theatricality.

This is the second essay, produced in the trial. I used the vast majority of this essay again in
the HSC exam, obviously changing to fit the question.

Contemporary audiences often feel that Shakespeare’s plays are locked in an

inaccessible realm, with British academia or contextual knowledge being the only keys.
Shakespeare had to produce a play of Richard III in a way that flattered the current monarch
by presenting Richard III as an unworthy leader. In order to effectively achieve this,
Shakespeare projects an evil identity of his protagonist. Al Pacino aims to allow
Shakespeare’s Richard III to transcend the confines of the Elizabethan time period and
become relevant and accessible to modern audiences in his docudrama, Looking for Richard.
Pacino uses his own identity as a celebrity to enhance Richard III’s relevance to
contemporary audiences.
Although the nature of human society changes, human defiance persists through
time. Shakespeare moulded his protagonist’s identity to be seen in the light of Richard’s
defiance for the authority and morality associated with a providential society. The opening
soliloquy highlights the intentions of Richard. A prophetic pun is used, “unless to see my
shadow in the sun.” The Yorkist ascension to the throne and the peace time after the 100
year war lead to Richard III’s intentions. Richard’s deformity prevented him from mingling
during the peace time, so Shakespeare proposes to his audience that Richard III only had
intentions of usurpation. Richard III also uses mellifluous oration skills to woo Lady Anne.
Although she initially calls him a “foul devil,” he praises “thy beauty” until she is won over.
Further feigning of morality and defiance for both spirituality and morality, Shakespeare
gives Richard III’s character the dialogue of “more wonderful when Angels are so angry.”
This biblical allusion places the character on a platform of morality, which the audience
realises is a fake identity because of dramatic irony, as he has declared his intentions in the
opening soliloquy.
 Pacino reshapes Richard III’s capacity for dual identity as he fulfills the role of both
actor and director. Pacino declares his aim to be to create “a Shakespeare about how we
feel and how we think today.” Pacino humorously uses dialogue to swear and admit his
confusion with “I’m confused just saying it to you” to create his own identity as an ordinary
American, so that his docudrama, Looking for Richard, could achieve its intentions. Pacino
transforms the wooing of Anne scene as a point of dissection of identity in his docudrama.
He uses the dialogue of Shakespeare’s play, but enhances it with filmic techniques. The
seraphic non-diagetic music emulates Richard III’s perceived identity of divinity.
Simultaneously, Pacino utilised chiaroscuro lighting to mirror the dual capacity of the dark
and light of Richard’s identity, and also supporting Shakespeare’s pun of the shadow and the
sun.
Theatre and film present both limiting and expressive opportunities. Shakespeare’s
Globe Theatre meant that he has to rely heavily on the work of language. The opening
soliloquy causes the audience to simultaneously admire the vice’s candour yet ambivalently
despise him for his aggressive machinations. The dual identity of Richard III is immediately
highlighted. Queen Margaret calls Richard a “devil.” This presents a vitriolic image to
audience about Richard’s identity because of the Medieval belief in fiends. Imagery in the
play is extended to powerful animal imagery as Richard is called a “toad,” “hedgehog” and a
“foul swine.” This imagery taints the audience’s impression of Richard’s identity as he is
presented as more animal than human, and consequently an unworthy monarch.
Shakespeare also expressed the essence of all drama, conflict, through dichotomy. The
opening soliloquy mentions balanced and antithetical pairings such as “smoother/wrinkled”
and “dreadful marches/delightful measures.” Stichomythia also uses dichotomy and
portrays Richard’s identity as an orator, but also an evil leader. Richard states “your reasons
are too quick and shallow” and in repartee, Elizabeth replies, “oh no, my reasons are too
deep and dead.” These theatrical rhetoric devices were understood and appreciated n
Shakespeare’s context and consequently, effectively produced Richard’s identity in a way
that denounced his morality and flattered the monarch.
Pacino aims to encourage an understanding of Richard III in his modern audience,
and utilised the preferred medium of his time, film. Pacino uses his own identity as a
successful Hollywood actor (who usually represents villains) to promote an understanding of
the identity of Richard III. Vox pops are used to engage with the populace and request
opinions of both the identities of Shakespeare’s plays and Richard III. This engages
contemporary culture and places the audience on a platform of involvement to eventually
enrich their understanding. Crucial to the understanding the evil identity of Richard III is
having a sound knowledge of the line of succession. As Pacino describes the usurping
intentions of Richard III through dialogue, he jump cuts back to visual cues, for the audience
about different characters. Kimball interjects to explain other difficult but important
notions, like iambic pentameter. Vanessa Redgrave offers her scholarly understanding of the
technique whereas Kimball uses an analogy of an anteater to enrich the understanding of
the audience. Kimball and Pacino repeat any notions that may deter contemporary
audiences from Shakespeare in colloquial language and commoratio, thus enriching a
contemporary understanding.
 Each composer brings intentions for their art to a particular medium. Working within
the confines of the Globe Theatre or Hollywood film presents opportunities and challenges.
Ultimately, through Pacino’s understanding of contemporary culture and experience with
film, he allows Richard III to transcend the confines of its Elizabethan period. Shakespeare’s
treatment of identity is manipulated to achieve his own purpose of flattering the monarch,
as contemporary audiences understand and appreciate through Looking For Richard.