It was very disturbing to read Crooked Politics and see how many parallels there were between a Shakespearean play written in the 16th century and 21st century American politics. Richard stated that he could “frame [his] face to all occasions,” similar to the way that Donald Trump is “willing to manipulate the needs and desires” of the audience (Bezio, 4-6). Both Richard and Trump used dynamic rhetoric, when they were striving for power, to play off the emotions of the various audiences to manipulate themselves into power. It was very helpful to contextualize Trump’s toxic charisma through Richard III, because regardless of a person’s political affiliation, it’s hard to argue that Richard III was not a toxic charismatic, and therefore Donald Trump as well because of the numerous parallels in their actions.
Another parallel was the disenfranchisement of and mudslinging towards women that took place both in Richard III and from Donald Trump. Despite that, in Richard III, women were still ultimately responsible for the downfall of Richard; potentially, they will be the downfall of Trump as well (Bezio, 15, 17). Regardless of if it is from women, men, minority groups, majority groups, etc, we will hopefully be able to disrupt the toxic charisma of Donald Trump. This can be done by “rejecting anxiety, shoring up democratic processes, selecting new leaders… and embracing diversity” (Bezio, 18). These strategies will be especially important in the upcoming year because there is the chance to elect a better leader.
I also liked how she includes parallels between the women in Shakespeare’s play who caused the downfall of Richard and the women and other minority groups in Congress who have been resisting Trump’s harmful policies. While the parallels between Trump and Richard III are disturbing, it is good to think about how this cycle can be broken.
It is interesting how there are so many similarities between Trump and Richard, and how a search for power ultimately led to their gain. I also think we are very lucky to be in a situation where are leaders change, so we can now vote people out of office.
I agree with your statements! The amount of parallels that were able to be drawn was pretty disturbing. However, the conclusion of the power being in our hands is very uplifting.
In a different post for this article, it was talked about how due to charismatic leaders with poor intentions, we could fall into a cycle of bad leaders elected solely through their charismatic personalities and tendencies. I liked how you mentioned Bezio’s point of women, minorities, etc potentially being the reason we get out of this dangerous cycle before it begins.