Key Ideas in Richard III/Looking for Richard + T.S Eliot

[benchristian707]

Hey,

I was at your excellent lecture on Sunday. Just wondering if you could send the main ideas and quotes for Module A Richard III and Looking for Richard. If you have could you also do Module B T.S Eliot COllection of 5 poems

[angewina_naguen]

Hey,

I was at your excellent lecture on Sunday. Just wondering if you could send the main ideas and quotes for Module A Richard III and Looking for Richard. If you have could you also do Module B T.S Eliot COllection of 5 poems

Hey, benchristian707!

Glad to hear you enjoyed the lecture! I haven't studied Richard III/Looking for Richard in depth so I'll focus more on two key ideas and hopefully this can spark some ideas on certain scenes you could revisit for textual evidence!

Key Ideas
Power and Authority- As media to forward the campaign of Queen Elizabeth's regime, power and the way it is exercised is a central idea to many of Shakespeare's plays. I would look both at how Shakespeare uses his power as a playwright, someone who is capable of voicing his views through art and culture, to represent different models of leadership. You could then look at Pacino's docudrama as a vehicle intended to propel these lasting ideas about the importance of political authorities into the contemporary context, as he too has that power as a director and literally embodies it by playing Richard himself. Power is a great one to look at, both in terms of the text itself but also in relation to the role of the composer.
Language and Theatre- Language for Shakespeare is almost like a toolbox; we can see him equipping certain words and phrases to construct meaning. This is projected through Richard's character who uses his words to manipulate situations in the play and exercise agency. We can also consider language in how it operates within the theatrical setting; think about ways in which stage directions, props, lighting and dramatic techniques for delivering dialogue assist in shaping meaning. For Pacino, we can see him using language as a means to recontextualise Shakespeare's play to the modern audience and to verbalise his appreciation of the text. As a docudrama, we also see Pacino having the capacity to explore the significance of theatre today, with professional actors and historians also included in the film to support his venture into reimagining Shakespeare's Richard III. We can also understand language, like power, as both a theme in the text itself, but also in how it was used by the composers to facilitate a "textual conversation."

As for T.S Eliot, many of the key ideas overlap across his poems. The most salient ones I would highlight include isolation/alienation, uncertainty, displacement (social, political, religious), relationships (to oneself, to others and to the wider world) and entropy (ideas surrounding decay, transience and mortality). I also compiled some critic quotes for Module B which you can access here to see how these ideas demonstrate Eliot's textual integrity. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any further questions!

Angelina