Goldman's Use Of Idiolect In The Lion In Winter

Improved Essays
Throughout the drama, Goldman uses idiolect to vary the personalities of the characters. He especially utilizes the idiolect and thought processes of England’s nobility in order to show the varying levels of knowledge in treaties, land, and power. Henry II, being the King of England, displays a great sense of knowledge in the status of his empire as well as how to negotiate with neighboring countries. For example, when meeting with King Philip of France, Henry began the negotiations, stating, “Your grievances, as we have understood them, have to do with Princess Alais and her dowry” (13). Henry’s professional tone and use of political terms, such as “dowry”, project a sense of confidence that gives England the status of being flexible in negotiations, …show more content…
With Goldman’s incorporation of idiolect throughout his varying sentence style, the reader becomes a bystander within the palace walls, listening to every plot and conspiracy comprising the drama’s central conflict of determining England’s next king. Not only does idiolect show the level of education behind a character, but their use of English and French also conveys the characters’ education and professionalism concerning England’s political situation. With his use of both idiolect and foreign language, Goldman gives the reader insight as to who may be the best deceivers within the drama’s deceptive battles. However, despite the trickery and slyness pervading the subject, the prideful and selfish roots of deceit are clearly found to be inherently fixed into each character’s personality. For example, when Richard warned Henry that he will be king in any situation, he said, “I don’t care what you offer Philip. I don’t care what plans you make. I’ll have the Aquitaine and Alais and the crown. I’ll have them all” (15). Through the speeches of Richard as well as the other members of the royal family, arrogance and presumed privilege radiate from their selfish desires and prideful attitudes. Through the clashing of egos and the characters’ entanglement in their web of deceit, Goldman indirectly warns his reader of the consequences deriving from conceit and deception, giving them hindsight on what divisive tragedies may happen if one becomes engrossed in

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Shakespeare's Richard III presents the ideas of conscience and morality in an aristocratic society that thirsts for power. By presenting conscience as a central theme, Shakespeare portrays conscience through the eyes of different characters. In doing so, his audience is given differing interpretations of the importance of conscience. In his essay "Conscience and Complicity in Richard III," Harry Berger Jr. interprets conscience as a vital part of self-preservation. Berger notes the ineffectiveness of conscience, which leads to the characters' ignorance of the misdeeds around them (Berger 410).…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Pacino’s ambition to “communicate a Shakespeare that is how we think and how we feel today” leads him to orchestrate his interpretation of Richard’s identity and, in process, manipulate his own identity to present this adaptation to his audience. Pacino revaluates Richard’s exaggerated deformity as not a consequence of opposing the divine order but rather a ‘metaphorical representation of the inner corruption of his mind’. Through the cinema verite of Richard in black attire, shadows and limping, the dramatic characterisation reveals the pernicious state of his mind. Pacino uses enigmatic tone of repetitive voice, “an amorous looking glass cheated of feature by deformed…deformed…deformed” to reveal Richard’ internally fragmented self accompanied with eclectic editing style. As the Elizabethan tyrant is made more relevant to the modern audience, it reveals the audience’s freedom to conclude the guilty conscience, rather than presuming punishments lead to a devaluation of Richard’s authentic power.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    As times change, values and ideas often change as they are invariably shaped by their context. However, some remain constant throughout time and are universal. The 1592 Shakespearean drama Richard III and Al Pacino 's 1995 docu-drama Looking for Richard [LFR] were written four hundred years apart yet both texts address perpetual values and ideas that are common to both eras. Through a simultaneous study of both texts, the responder is able to understand the influence of context on aspects of the human condition such as the adverse effects of lust for power and appearance and reality. Richard III is heavily influenced by Elizabethan principles and in Pacino 's response to the increasingly secular and modern American context he effectively refashions…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Considering that this tragedy play ends in violence, at the cost of the young, ambitious and indecisive Hamlet, it’s safe to say that Shakespeare’s prediction wasn’t optimistic. Consequently the turmoil that would follow James and his successors would indicate that Shakespeare’s prediction did have its merits (De Lisle, 408). To conclude, the plot of Hamlet is enriched in reflections on the changes of religion, class, education the rise of humanism and the politics surrounding Queen Elizabeth and her successor. From the inconsistences and conflict of these themes that are presented, it can be argued that Shakespeare has deliberately made the nature of the play ambiguous.…

    • 2238 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The corruption of power prevails across time periods, as initiated by Shakespeare and confirmed by Pacino in Looking for Richard. Undoubtedly, the battle for authority overrules the natural order of a human being, hence the consequent result of destruction and loss. In Richard III, Shakespeare thoroughly examines the nature of power and authority, utilising Richard’s brutal actions to demonstrate that the ends do not justify the means. In the Elizabethan theocracy, power was conferred through hereditary, not merit, hence Richard as a clearly unworthy and unwanted heir to the throne. In granting Richard the opportunity to cement his ‘power’, Shakespeare depicts the protagonist exerting the Machiavellian influence, as seen seducing the young Princes in Act 3, Scene 3, “God keep you from such false friends”, and “Your grace attended to thy sugared words.”…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Contrary to popular belief, not all acts of manipulation are inherently immoral. The exploration of King Henry IV, Part One (1596-1597), the second historical play of the Henriad, by William Shakespeare, will facilitate…

    • 1513 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Shakespeare personifies King Henry’s need to maintain control of the situation through rhetorical questions in “Shall our coffers/ then be emptied to redeem a traitor home?/ Shall we by treason an indent with fears/” This reveals to the audience that because of King Henry 's paranoia he needs to ask constant questions to assure himself that his followers are still loyal to him furthermore the rhetorical questions in “Shall our coffers/ then be emptied to redeem a traitor home?” serves the purpose of manipulating blunt into thinking that Mortimer is a traitorous coward. Shakespeare 's use of intimidating tone, religious allusion and rhetorical questions shows how paranoia leads individuals to manipulate politician situations in order to maintain control over power and leadership…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What ended up mattering most was Catherine. The goal of this paper is to elucidate these changes within Henry and those with whom he had relationships with. Concerning the war, Henry’s casual, careless attitude deteriorated throughout. In Book I, it’s apparent that he doesn’t care much about the war.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet Essay Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy, Hamlet (1892) is a prevailing text, which encompasses perennial concerns not only applicable to the elizabethan era, but also to our contemporary society, enabling us as a critical audience to successfully engage with Hamlet as a character. As a result of corruption, Hamlet is perceived as an afflicted character struggling to live in a world of complex appearances and paradoxical actions. Consequently, his overwhelming desire and reason for filial revenge is instigated, reflecting the intricate nature of the human condition in the undertaking of his vengeance. Moreover, these prominent concerns are cohesively resonated throughout the text, thus establishing textual integrity and further heightening the plays enduring effect.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Machiavelli Vs Caesar

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The drama appeals to an audience fearing Elizabeth I’s imminent death without an heir and consequent civil war and religious conflict. Through the osmosis from these new zeitgeists, we can combine the implicit and explicit relationship between texts to deepen our understanding of the values and significance of each. The Prince is substantially less theoretical than the literature on political theory that preceded it, reflecting the drastic change in the pragmatic nature of powerplay. This realpolitik, didactic approach can be seen through the metaphor and anthropomorphism of the fox and the lion to explain the combination of cunning and strength that a prince must possess to maintain empirical control of his state.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The sickness of manipulation In Hamlet this playwright of “william shakespeare 's” ,Young Hamlet is a man surrounded by deceit and must choose to give into the manipulation or make it his own path. Shakespeare had a sun named Hamlet who passed away who theorist say this is the main point as to why he wrote this dramatic tragedy. In this play King Hamlet is murdered by his brother claudius and it is up to young prince hamlet to end cladiouse raine. Hamlet 's mother and Ophelia also experience the poisoned dagger of manipulation to act on what she believed is right.…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Betrayal has been a tool used to gain power throughout history. It has been used to climb the corporate ladder, gain political power and even win wars. At any point in history someone has been stabbed in the back for someone else’s personal gain and Shakespeare’s time was no exception. In many plays by Shakespeare, the characters are involved in physical battles in order to gain power, however; in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the battles for power are fought through spying, lies and backstabbing. In Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates that betrayal leads to a radical development of Hamlet’s personality.…

    • 1737 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet Sympathy For Hamlet

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    An audience would sympathize with Hamlet after learning of his father’s brutal death. It would be heartbreaking for Hamlet to see his mother married to his father’s murderer. It would also be dangerous for Hamlet to confide in others because his plans for revenge could be tampered with. “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears the crown” (1.5.44-45) Hamlet learns about the truth to his father’s death and his uncle’s deception that allowed him to become king.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The human condition questions human morality, the capacity to communicate deceit and the capacity to feel which is manifested in the perception of authentic or deceptive relationships, reflection and realisation and the altering of an individual’s identity. Shakespeare’s King Lear explores the human condition through characters of the play which give insight of the aspects of humanity. Shakespeare’s universality of concepts of deceit, realisation and identity provides relevance to the modern era as these themes are present and occurring aspects of the human life. An individual’s ability to communicate deceit causes conflict at a social, familial and individual platform which are aspects that determines humanity.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In Christopher Marlowe 's play Doctor Faustus, the plot focalizes around John Faustus, a character that sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge. Similarly, in William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, the ambitious King Claudius murders his own brother to achieve wealth and power as the King of Denmark. These sinful crimes compromise the integrity of both male characters and inflict devastating consequences on their well-being and ability to coexist peacefully within their respective plays. By comparing and contrasting the end of Doctor Faustus within the B-text to King Claudius 's soliloquy within Act 3 of Hamlet, this paper will examine the emotional response their sins elicit, the issues surrounding their willingness to repent, and the…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays