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Richard III–Donald Trump

Throughout the entirety of Bezio’s piece she demonstrates the historical value within “cultural media artifacts” as she makes parallels to both the political and socio economic behaviors in Shakespeare’s play and present day America. One of the most interesting parallels made in the article is about the presence of feminism as a political factor, usually being combated by a toxic charismatic male leader. In the piece she compares the 2016 election of Trump v Clinton and the relationship between Elizabeth and Richard III, which I thought was a very interesting connection considering the differences in time periods and settings. The best way to understand the comparison, for me at least, was with the analyzation of the quote she included by Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt. He described Richard as someone who thinks he can

“…grab from any woman anything he wants, however much she might resist… ‘Relenting fool. And shallow changing woman!’”

Instantly my mind was taken back to the extremely problematic interview of Trump where he says the infamous quote “Grab her by the pussy”. With the inclusion of the quote by Greenblatt the comparison between the two men become even more clear–two toxic charismatic male leaders that encourage the disavowment of female agency. Later in the article Bezio draws comparisons between Elizabeth and Hillary Clinton as both women that compete with the men despite their vicious attacks, Richard claiming Elizabeth a witch and Trump claiming Clinton a liar/fraud. The demonstration of both women as powerful and fearless leaders in a system renowned for patriarchal behavior, especially in the midst of such behavior, is a significant parallel made and allows me to question what it suggests for women politicians in the future.

 

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2 Comments

  1. Luiza Cocito Luiza Cocito

    I also thought that the comparison between Trump v Clinton and the relationship between Elizabeth and Richard III was very appropriate when identifying similarities between Trump and Richard III. In my opinion, it was especially interesting to observe the resemblance between Trump’s campaign against Clinton to “Lock her up” and the way in which Richard III attempted to arrest Elizabeth for witchcraft.

  2. Ellen Curtis Ellen Curtis

    I found the comparison really interesting as well. I think Bezio made a really important point that words can do a lot to undermine a person taking advantage of power. It is important that in this unstable time women continue to be unruly and allow their voices to be heard because it can go a long way, as was demonstrated in Richard III.

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