A villain and a monster : the literary portrait of Richard III by Thomas More and William Shakespeare

The process of vilification of Richard III started at the end of the fifteenth century, when a well-planned policy of Tudor propaganda was set in motion by Henry VII himself, who commissioned a series of historiographical writings, mainly aiming at the solidification of the newly founded dynasty. One of the strategies, probably the major one, consisted in the definitive annihilation of the last Plantagenet king of England, whose defeat and death on the battlefield should not by any means transform him into the York victimised hero of the Wars of the Roses. Thus, various historiographers delineated Richard of Gloucester as a vile, wicked, monstrous creature. But the hyperbolic process of vilification undoubtedly reached its highest climax with two major early modern authors. The Life written by Thomas More – The History of King Richard the Third (ca. 1514) – and the play written by William Shakespeare – King Richard III (ca. 1591) – may be considered the epitomes of the tradition that has forever shaped the king as a monster. In this text, I focus on the way More and Shakespeare exploit and amplify the vituperative historiographical tradition, though mostly based on rumour, uncertainties and legendary elements. Within this widely accepted tradition, both authors manage to shape a solid portrait of Richard III, an exemplum not to be imitated or followed, but whose performance, built through a set of powerful rhetorical devices, is masterful, both in the Life and in the play

Graphene-Co<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf> nanocomposite as electrocatalyst with high performance for oxygen evolution reaction

Graphene-Co3O4 composite with a unique sandwich-architecture was successfully synthesized and applied as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses confirmed that Co3O4 nanocrystals were homogeneously distributed on both sides of graphene nanosheets. The obtained composite shows enhanced catalytic activities in both alkaline and neutral electrolytes. The onset potential towards the oxygen evolution reaction is 0.406 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in 1 M KOH solution, and 0.858 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in neutral phosphate buffer solution (PBS), respectively. The current density of 10 mA/cm2 has been achieved at the overpotential of 313 mV in 1M KOH and 498mV in PBS. The graphene-Co3O4 composite also exhibited an excellent stability in both alkaline and neutral electrolytes. In particular, no obvious current density decay was observed after 10 hours testing in alkaline solution and the morphology of the material was well maintained, which could be ascribed to the synergistic effect of combining Co3O4 and graphene

Glass matrix composite material prepared with waste foundry sand

The technology of glass matrix of the composite material manufactured through a sintering process and using waste foundry sand and waste glass as the main raw materials was studied. The effects of technological factors on the performance of this material were studied. The results showed that this composite material is formed with glass as matrix, core particulate as strengthening material, it has the performance of glass and ceramics, and could be used to substitute for stone

Preparation of Activated Charcoal and Chromium Removal Using Adsorption

High amount of heavy metal ions like chromium (Cr) in the environment has been harmful for animal and human health. If we talk about tannery industries it is quite easily contain chromium in the waste water. So removal of chromium (Cr) from tannery wastes is important need of an hour. Here we used adsorption method for removal and activated charcoal as an adsorbent. The concentration of Cr was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) through absorbance of the solution or sample. Removal of Cr was found to be dependent on pH and maximum adsorption was observed at pH 2.0. Hence, in this study the efficiency of activated charcoal powder to removal Cr from chromium solution is investigated. The results of this study proved that activated charcoal powder can be used to remove chromium (Cr) from tannery effluent

Sintering characteristics of red mud compact

Scientific inventions & technological developments has raised the human life to a great height. In last few decades worldwide scientific & technical innovations for processing/development/utilization of new materials (as per the need of the society), is tremendously increasing. But, looking at the other side of the coin also implies the generation of a huge amount of industrial byproducts/wastes which is becoming a client for increasing environmental pollution & generation of a huge amount of unutilized resources. With a view to the above, this research is aimed at finding out utilization of such things/materials/industrial byproducts for value added applications & also helps to solve the environmental problems. The present piece of my research work aims at, to provide a valued input/utilization to industrial byproduct/waste (viz..red mud), being produced in huge quantity from Alumina plants, not bearing any commercial values. From the available research literatures/resources, it’s clearly understood that very little attempts have been made for finding high valued utilization of this material. Considering all these above our investigation are to process red mud for high valued applications. By now search/studies are going on for finding new ways & means available in literature regarding utilization of this material

The literary construction of a monstrous portrait : King Richard III by Thomas More and William Shakespeare

Thomas More’s narrative The History of King Richard the Third (ca. 1514) and William Shakespeare’s play King Richard III (ca. 1591) may be considered the epitomes of a tradition that has for ever vilified the last Plantagenet monarch of England. Even in later fictional works, it is hard to come across a more distorted and evil character, whose outward appearance faithfully mirrors his inner moral self. Among several other minor or major contributions to this character’s vilification, Bernard André and Pietro Carmeliano had presented him as a monster, physically abominable; John Rous had registered his abnormal birth: after two years in his mother’s womb, the child was born exhibiting teeth and shoulder-length hair; Polydore Vergil had explicitly accused him of the murder of the Lancastrian Prince of Wales, Henry VI’s son. It is my intention to focus on the way More and Shakespeare exploit and amplify this vituperative historiographic tradition, full of serious accusations, though mostly based on rumour, uncertainties and legendary elements. Within this widely accepted tradition, both authors manage to shape a solid portrait of a monstrous Richard, an exemplum not to be imitated or followed, but whose masterly performance, coinciding with the mastery of the rhetorical devices, has never failed to impress successive generations of readers and theatre-goers