Richard III Power Of Manipulation

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Buckingham’s Outstanding Power of Manipulation William Shakespeare’s play in the 13th century, Richard III, is seemingly simple at the first glance. It is a production with a striking central character who will provide the audience with entertainment and morals within a context. Later on, we see that the play is much more complex, as the protagonist and side characters will dominate our experience in the play. In Act 3 Scene 1 lines 31 to 57, we see Buckingham trying to convince Lord Cardinal to bring back the Duke of York from sanctuary, even if it requires physical force. The Cardinal is very afraid he will provoke a place where god grants those safety and refuses almost immediately, but the cunning and convincing Buckingham manages to sway…show more content…
Buckingham senses the hesitation and refusal radiating off of the Cardinal. Therefore, he proceeds his plan in an altered approach and instead, he becomes more polite by referring to the Cardinal as “my lord” and manipulates him instead of commanding. In the beginning of this passage, one will see that Buckingham does not act quite as polite as he does after the Cardinal’s refusal. In the beginning, he merely refers to the Cardinal as “Lord Cardinal” in line 32, but later on in line 44, he refers to the Cardinal as “my lord.” In these two different circumstances, Buckingham acts contradictory since he wishes to change the Cardinal’s mind the second time (after the refusal). This proves that Buckingham is very cunning and clever since he can dissect the Cardinal’s refusal almost immediately and acts accordingly right after. Buckingham calls the Cardinal “too ceremonious and traditional” and claims that violent measures must be taken at some point in time to justify right justness. Aside from indicating him to be old-fashioned, Buckingham calls him stubborn in line 44. When Buckingham says the line “you are too senseless obstinate”, he wishes to rile the Cardinal up. This is so that the Cardinal will become enraged and believe that Queen Elizabeth has personally aggravated him instead of Buckingham lying and manipulating him to acquire his trust and follow his instructions. As well, he continues to manipulate the Cardinal by mentioning that sanctuary is only granted to those who deserve and want to claim it, but the Duke of York was forced into sanctuary by his mother. In lines 44 to 56, we accurately see Buckingham’s character development, as he influences the Cardinal by changing approaches and manipulating by

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