1. Dream big
Richard has some pretty ambitious dreams! He wants to be king and I can imagine his friends staring at him in disbelief like he is crazy (That has happened to me more than a few times). Throughout the play, Richard is considerably driven and goal-oriented which is pretty great....of course his methods of achieving these goals involve murdering various people (Including two children) which is not exactly a good pattern to follow. I have some pretty big dreams myself, including becoming a professor. I usually get some bizarre looks from people for saying that, probably because I look like I'm thirteen and people don't think I realize what I am getting myself into but I am willing to fight for this dream in order to make it happen.....however, I am not planning on killing people in order to get to this dream.
2. Always listen to the crazy lady, she usually knows what she's talking about
Early in the play, this crazy former Queen named Margaret comes in and basically gives most of the main characters spoilers related to what is going to happen to them before the end of the play. You'd think that a warning like this would give the characters some opportunity to examine the current direction in life and change something but instead, they just move on like nothing happened. As each of their characters go to their deaths, the usually remember what Margaret said and say something to the effect of "Oh yeah, that crazy woman was right".
3. If there is some sort of weird prophecy predicting your demise, try to cover all your bases when it comes to avoiding this fate
The currently reigning king is given a prophecy that he will have his throne taken from him by a guy whose name starts with "G". This causes him to imprison his own brother George, Duke of Clarence in order to avoid this fate. What he doesn't seem to think about is the fact that Richard III is the Duke of Gloucester and EVERYBODY in the play calls him "Gloucester". If I were a paranoid king, I would have locked them both up and none of this would have happened.
4. Try to set reasonable standards when it comes to defining a "true friend"
Richard seems to think that the only way that someone can be a true friend to him is if they are willing to viciously murder innocent children for him and if they never ask him for their "fair share" in the treasure that comes out of it. Aside from the fact that these standards seem to be more fitting when it comes to finding the ideal assassin rather than a loyal friend. These standards are ridiculously high, I really don't think that you will ever be able to find a "friend" like this.
5. Some people can get away with blaming others for their problems (You shouldn't blame people for your problems even if you could get away with it though)
In the play, there is a point where Richard claims that the queen and a friend of hers plotted to kill him by cursing him with a withered hand. This is ridiculous and when he said this in the play I felt very inclined to yell: "You were born that way dude!". Yet, in spite of how ridiculous this claim is, Richard is able to get rid of one of his rivals this way because the people believe this story.
6. Don't let your physical deficiencies turn you into a monster
Fairly early in the play (Basically page 1), Richard says that because he is deformed (He has a humpback and a withered Hand) and won't be able to settle down or find a gal who loves him, he is going to "play the villain" and implement this whole drawn out, evil plan to achieve his goal of being king. This probably isn't the best motivation for being evil because if you look hard enough, I bet that you can find a physical flaw in pretty much everyone. For example, I've got my wandering eye. Sometimes, you just need to accept things and move on with your life....Richard does not.
7. Nobody is perfect....unless you're Richmond, in which case, you can do no wrong
At the end of this play, Richard, who has already been established as an evil character, goes up against Richmond and eventually loses. What is interesting about Richmond is that he is insanely "good" and perfect at everything he does. This guy prays, delivers inspiringly humble speeches, asks his underlings for advice, and I picture him as a pretty good-looking guy. Even the ghosts like him! Compare this to Richard who is suspicious of everyone, grouchy, tormented by the ghosts, and who designs the battle plan entirely by himself. Frankly, I find Richard to be a far more realistic picture of humanity than Richmond, no one could possibly be as good as Richmond all the time unless you're talking about Jesus.
Richard the III teaches us to be sensitive to the issues that create inferiority complex .Men who as children felt that were marginalised have led heinous wars that have left many dead.Why contemporary freedom fighters like Yoweri Museveni of Uganda have been at the forefront of wars in the East and Southern Africa is largely because like Richard,he grew up knowing that he had some form of "deformity"coming from a social class of landless cattle keeper, often despised as backward foreigners. In order to rise to position of influence not only in Region that he calls home but also in the entire African continent, Museveni like Richard III has used every unconventional method not only to rise to power but also to firmly grip on to power no matter the consequence.The society and the perceived norms it sets makes it inevitable for social ,political and economic evils to prevail.We therefore have a duty to consciously re-examine the root cause of radicalism that breeds defiance and terrorism which is now being applauded as Revolutionarism.May be at some point after embrassing the adage "things must get worse before they get better",the World will get
ReplyDeletea new wave of Richmond who have will establish a new order