How Does Shakespeare Establish Richard’s Character in the Opening Soliloquy of the Play?
How does Shakespeare establish Richard’s character in the opening soliloquy of the play?
Shakespeare establishes Richard’s character in the opening soliloquy by presenting Richard as an eloquent speaker, showing his reflection of himself and depicting him as the ‘Vice’. Richard reveals elements of his true character as he reflects on the preceding conflict between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. In the opening soliloquy, Richard’s character is established as the audience sees his bitter reaction to new king, Edward IV and the newfound ‘peace’.
From the earliest moment in the play, Richard is shown to be an extremely eloquent and expressive speaker. He begins his monologue by using contrasting metaphors such as ‘summer’ and ‘winter’. He compares the change of seasons to the Yorkist ascension to the throne. He puns at the word ‘sun’, referring to both Edward’s emblem and also the ‘son’ of York. His figurative language describes the triumph of the House of York. He refers to the reign of Lancaster as ‘clouds’, playing at the word ‘sun’ in the line before. Soon however, Richard’s descriptions become more dramatic, and the audience realises that Richard is dissatisfied with the new peace. Richard’s eloquence shows his high level of intelligence, and his expressiveness suggests his strong feelings of hatred and anger. Richard’s eloquence is key to manipulating other characters, and the audience is drawn towards Richard. Within the first few lines of the soliloquy, Shakespeare establishes Richard’s ability to manipulate language to express his innermost thoughts.
Richard reveals his distaste of the newfound peace and the king to the audience. He contrasts masculine warrior qualities with peacetime virtues and clearly shows preference for war. His anaphoric repetition emphasises on his mocking, resentful tone. He strongly contrasts words, ‘dreadful’ to ‘delightful, ‘stern’ to merry’ and this shows his dislike towards peace. He expresses strong
Shakespeare establishes Richard’s character in the opening soliloquy by presenting Richard as an eloquent speaker, showing his reflection of himself and depicting him as the ‘Vice’. Richard reveals elements of his true character as he reflects on the preceding conflict between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. In the opening soliloquy, Richard’s character is established as the audience sees his bitter reaction to new king, Edward IV and the newfound ‘peace’.
From the earliest moment in the play, Richard is shown to be an extremely eloquent and expressive speaker. He begins his monologue by using contrasting metaphors such as ‘summer’ and ‘winter’. He compares the change of seasons to the Yorkist ascension to the throne. He puns at the word ‘sun’, referring to both Edward’s emblem and also the ‘son’ of York. His figurative language describes the triumph of the House of York. He refers to the reign of Lancaster as ‘clouds’, playing at the word ‘sun’ in the line before. Soon however, Richard’s descriptions become more dramatic, and the audience realises that Richard is dissatisfied with the new peace. Richard’s eloquence shows his high level of intelligence, and his expressiveness suggests his strong feelings of hatred and anger. Richard’s eloquence is key to manipulating other characters, and the audience is drawn towards Richard. Within the first few lines of the soliloquy, Shakespeare establishes Richard’s ability to manipulate language to express his innermost thoughts.
Richard reveals his distaste of the newfound peace and the king to the audience. He contrasts masculine warrior qualities with peacetime virtues and clearly shows preference for war. His anaphoric repetition emphasises on his mocking, resentful tone. He strongly contrasts words, ‘dreadful’ to ‘delightful, ‘stern’ to merry’ and this shows his dislike towards peace. He expresses strong