Richard III as a Successful Politician Essay -- Papers

Richard III as a Successful Politician Shakespeare's Richard III is set in England after the War of the Roses. Richard, the megalomanic eponymous character, is desperate for the throne of England. He tells us that he seeks the crown to compensate for his deformity (he was a hunchback from birth). Richard has his own brother killed and later has former allies and those who still stood in his way killed also. When Richard eventually gains the throne he finds his conscience and begins to feel insecure, he has the two Princes he has locked away killed. Nobles are horrified by his actions and establish a rebel force lead by Richmond. During the Battle of Bosworth FieldRichard is defeated and killed in hand to hand combat with Richmond, who then takes the throne and becomes King of England. The word 'political' can have more than one meaning. The Oxford English Dictionary has a few definitions of political and politician: 1. Of, relating to, or dealing with the structure or affairs of government, politics, or the state. 2. Relating to, involving, or characteristic of politics or politicians: 3. Interested or active in politics. 4. Having or influenced by partisan interests: The court should never become a political institution. 5. Based on or motivated by partisan or self-serving objectives: a purely political decision. 1. One who is actively involved in politics, especially party politics. 2. One who seeks personal or partisan gain, often by scheming and by manoeuvring Richard has shown several of these characteristics and so can be described as a political character.... ...d, therefore, that Richard was not a success as he was killed although he failed militarily rather than politically and had succeeded up to that point. As Richard failed as a soldier, he could still be called a successful politician. Political could also mean artful, ingenious, unscrupulous and cunning all of which can be applied to Richard at some point during the play. Richard is sly and gets away with treason, a crime punishable with death, he manages to put the blame on other people and avoid punishment himself. This could be considered successful, as he was never caught. Going back to the criteria for a politician it can be said that Richard is definitely a politician "one who seeks personal or partisan gain, often by scheming and by manoeuvring" but it is difficult to say whether he was successful or not.