Page 39 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

28 I Shakespeare in the Movies

Some insist Henry was less pleasant than the much-maligned
Gloucester. Nevertheless, Shakespeare presented Henry as a force of
good that vanquishes the evil, which (at least, in the public imagi-
nation) was Richard.
The audience of Shakespeare's time exited the playhouse believing
that despite the virtual horror show they had just relished, right had
proven its might. Now, if those theatergoing citizens could only be
trusted to logically follow that idea to its proper conclusion, they
would make the key connection: that their own current leader was
directly descended from Henry Tudor. Shakespeare's entertaining
propaganda assured the populace that their beloved England did
indeed exist under God's proper tutelage.
If the story was authentically English, the author's approach was
imitation Roman. Like Marlowe, Shakespeare was influenced by the
tragedies of Seneca, particularly their sense of a greater fate smoth-
ering individual human will. Already, though, Will was on his way to
discovering his voice, emerging as the first great pre-Freudian psycho-
logical writer. Allowing his Richard to experience psychological guilt
via dreams on the eve of impending defeat, the playwright trans-
formed Gloucester from fascinating fiend into flawed human being.
Shakespeare here revealed a notable lack of the skills he would
shortly master. His story emerged as convoluted, his occasional
attempts at poetry were uninspired, and his characterizations were
self-consciously simplistic. Yet the play became a great favorite and
remains so. It's a great spook show. The central role of Richard pro-
vided not only Burbage but an endless string of actors with a worthy
challenge.

Dr. Burbage and Mr. Kean

The Stage Tradition

As the first Richard III, Burbage established one approach to the part
by presenting ugly Gloucester as strangely attractive both to other
characters onstage and to people in the audience. In particular, he
was irresistible to women. Lady Anne, initially repulsed, allows him
to seduce her. Legend has it that many females in the audience
swooned with sexual excitement and others screamed out their
desire to be his next victim. It's easy to make a handsome villain
seductive but more difficult to manipulate viewers into falling under
the spell of a character who is, by his own admission, "Deform'd,
unfinished."