He masterfully manipulates our response into having a grudging admiration for his skilful use of language. Richard disguises himself throughout the play from a devoted brother to a pious convert. He has a constant burning desire for personal power and satisfies his aims, regardless of who he murders. “And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain, And hate the idle pleasures of these days.” (I.1.28-31) When he finally becomes King of England,
Iago and Edmund both utilize trust and love as instruments of destruction while at the same time exacerbating inherent tensions within the relationships of their victims. Iago and Edmund exploit the love and trust of others in order to be able to manipulate their victims. Iago develops a strong bond with Cassio, using Cassio’s grief and hopelessness, by ensuring Cassio of his Iago’s love. “I protest, in the sincerity of love and honest kindness,” (Shakespeare 103), says Iago to Cassio in the aftermath of Othello’s public humiliation of Cassio. Cassio is convinced of Iago’s love for him – Iago acts genuinely concerned with his situation.
However, he is full of irony as he is completely deceived by the intents of Macbeth. One may view Duncan as an incompetent monarch in this respect though; Duncan represents moral order within the play. Duncan has proved himself to be kind, generous, and respectful of those who protect him and his country. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth fights with bravery against the invaders and as a result, is rewarded with the title “Thane of Cawdor” (1.2, 65) by King Duncan. King’s generous and undoubting nature makes him a popular and loved amongst the citizens.
Gawain’s true loyalty to the codes of chivalry is put to the test and the true knight is revealed. Because of human nature, Gawain breaks several of the codes in order to benefit himself. Gawain appears to be an ideal knight in many ways. Gawain fits the perfect description for the ideal knight. He is big, strong and the kings first knight.
Loyalty Through the noble deeds performed in Anglo-Saxon originated epic, the ideal of loyalty is portrayed through the main character, Beowulf. Since he is the ideal thane, the failure of other knights to be as extraordinary as Beowulf makes him seem even more faithful and noble. Beowulf was loyal to all of his kin, kingdom, king, country, and his subjects. With this and courage he was a model thane, as well as king, for he was portrayed through the epic as the perfect warrior, and the most idealistic knight of his time. As described in the story, Beowulf is fiercely loyal; he has allegiance with all that are not enemies.
Shakespeare demonstrates and represents the key values and beliefs expected of Henry V as a king through his use of passionate and powerful speech, coupled with Henry’s influential and righteous values. Through these, we are also shown a personal view of Henry, rather than having him distanced from the chorus and the common people. As such, we are able to view the qualities of a king that he possesses during both times of peace and times of war. “The mercy that was quick” is an extremely emotional and heartfelt rendition of Henry V’s values and qualities as a king, and shows that while he may be harsh and exacting with his punishments, he still holds a human quality of mercy and forgiveness. Henry V delivers this speech following the discovery of three traitors among the English nobility prior to their war with the French, these being Cambridge, Scroop and Grey.
As a tragic hero, Brutus maintains noble intentions throughout the play. Grabbing at any opportune moment, Brutus desirably protects the Roman Republic from becoming corrupt and ruled by dictatorship. Cassius and other conspirators felt that Caesar’s ambition and tyrannical ruling reflects upon a dangerous outcome for future Rome. Persuaded by Cassius’s hatred of Caesar’s immediate gain in power and acknowledgement, Brutus constructs a plan for the assassination of Caesar. He greatly fears that “the people// [will] choose Caesar for their king” (I.ii.78-79).
In addition, Auden further demonstrates his negative perspective through the comment on the amount of knowledge the dictators know; "[Dictators] knew human folly like the back of [their] hand". The simile used by Auden highlights the predatory nature of dictators toward human knowing more about human weakness than the back of their hand. Furthermore, the dictators' power is showcased through his actions; "When he laughed, respectable senators burst into laughter". The idiom used
According to Aristotle, because Oedipus was born to nobility "his high estate gives him a place of dignity to fall from and perhaps makes his fall seem all the more a calamity in that it involves an entire nation or people" (Sheet). Although Oedipus is a king and should be setting examples for society, he has major flaws such as pride and rage. Oedipus is easily angered and lashed out at Tiresias when he told him that he is his own murder. Before he could get any explanations, Oedipus sent Tiresias away in a fit of rage because his pride made him unwilling to accept the truth. Oedipus had also acted similarly in Corinth when a drunkard had told him Polybus and Merope were not his real parents.
The Machiavellianism of Edmund The character of Edmund in Shakespeare’s King Lear conforms to many Machiavellian philosophies to attempt to achieve his vicious goals. Edmund is the epitome of true evil whose main purpose in life is to usurp power and perpetrate atrocities on the hapless characters around him. He hatches a plot to murder his father, frames his brother, and eventually gives both his father and the king up to be executed. He lives by the ideology that Machiavelli made so popular, that power is to be garnered by any means necessary. Edmund’s seemingly single minded goal of gaining power through violence and deceit draws many parallels to the philosophies put forth by Niccolo Machiavelli, most notably in his work The Prince.