Styles of Communication, Vol 1, No 1 (2009)

Abstract

In the famous opening soliloquy of Shakespeare’s Richard III, Richard mightily voices his repugnance to “fair well-spoken days” and their “idle pleasures”. He realizes his physical deformity and believes that it sets him apart from others. He openly admits that he is “not shaped for sportive tricks, nor made to court an amorous looking-glass”. Yet, his monstrosity constitutes more perhaps of his aggressive masculine exceptionality rather than of his deformity. Richard’s bullying masculinity manifests itself in his contempt for women. In the wooing scenes we clearly see his pugnacious pursuit of power over effeminate contentment by reducing women to mere objects. Additionally, those scenes are interesting from a psychological viewpoint as they brim over with conflicting emotions. Therefore, the paper explores two wooing encounters of the play, which belong the best examples of effective persuasion and also something we may refer to as ‘the power of eloquence’.