Sakepeare, Richard III, acte III scène 5

20/10/2015                                TD5 Acte III scène 5

        Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. Scene 5 of the third act is a demonstration of propaganda at the time of Richard III. Just before this stage, lord Hasting who has been ordered to go to Richard Council refused to go and give him his allegiance. He is overconfidence and should have listen to his friend’s dream in which he saw that they would die soon. Indeed, Richard at his council accused him of treason and condemn him to death. In the stage that we are going to study, scene 5, Richard and Buckingham have to justify the death of Hasting in front of the mayor, in other words in front of justice and people. However, they have to keep a good image before kingdom and this is why they use propaganda at a massive scale. Thus, to what extent this scene is a real convincing deconstruction of political hypocrisy in an ironic way in which audience are likely to recognize reflections of their own time and nation?

This scene can be divide in three parts: the first part shows us how a good tyrant has to be a paranoiac king (in an ironic way), the second part, reveals how Richard and Buckingham orchestrates propaganda in front of people represented by the mayor, the third part is a demonstration of how to “contaminate” all the kingdom

1. Buckingham and Richard prepares their role : the paranoiac tyrant (from the beginning to “enter Lovel and Ratcliffe, with Hasting’s head”

Even if it’s anachronistic, I will give Freud’s definition of a paranoiac in 1903: “in the delirium of persecution (it’s) a deformation consisting of a turnaround of emotion”. It’s an overestimated ego and falseness of judgment, and an imagination of exuberant scenario. This illness often begins in youth by a narcissism wound, like the ugliness of Richard for example. These definitions can be related to Richard’s behaviour.

In this first extract, paranoia is described in word and act. Indeed, word becomes action.

There is an effect of detachment between actors and their roles, theatre in theatre. Indeed, they are telling each other how to play a paranoiac tyrant. There is a lexical field of words of movements: “speak” “look nack” “trameble and start at wagging of a straw” like captations. (rose) The rhythm of the sentence “And then again begin, and stop again” could imitate rhythm of  breath with a repetition of again which gives tempo. Plus, they even talk about theatre for they want to imitate a tragedian.  “I can counterfeit the deep tragedian”. The repetition of “deep” and personification of “ghastly looks” and “enforces smiles” highlighted the masks that they are wearing, like tragedian masks.  There is also again a play on word with “grace” which means here to decorate, help him to play his role, to dress up.  

When the mayor arrives, like a spectator, he attends their playing. It begins with the caption “he starts” like a jump into his role; There are ellipsis, exclamations to emphasis their playing…

1. Setting up of propaganda :  He does his own fake trial

For Jacques Ellul, propaganda is linked to a doubled understanding: on the one hand the efficacy effective over people of an application of influence techniques, on the other hand significance of psychology in politic. There are five rules for Jean-Marie Domenach that we can even see in Richard III: simplification, an only one enemy; enlargement, that disfigured the facts ; orchestration (repetition of messages) and contamination to obtain unanimity.

The second part begins, like a trial, by the presentation of the common enemy “Hasting”. Then, Richard gives to mayor an explanation of how Hasting has been hidden his treachery. However, he is exactly explaining what he does himself to complete successfully his intentions. “plainest creature that breath upon the earth a Christian” or “daubed his vice with show of virtue” He tries to be a perfect Christian human being (this is why at the end of the stage he demands to see clerical people, because he also has to appear as a perfect Christian, the most important quality at this time). “The history of all her secret thoughts” like spectators with Richard.  “He lived from all attainder of suspects” Nobody was suspecting Richard, like Clarence, before he started his crimes.

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