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

The road to rulership : Henry Tudor, King of England

At the close of the Wars of the Roses, a new dynasty was founded by a man lacking a prince’s education; moreover, his weak claim to the throne of England gave rise to a set of serious problems. These two crucial, interrelated elements are central in Francis Bacon’s biographical account of Henry VII. The literal road leading Richmond from exile to victory in Bosworth Field, in 1485, is eventually transformed into a metaphoric path that prefigures the long, deep process of learning undertaken during his 24-year reign. This fundamental process carried out by the king will be approached mainly through the passages focused on the Lambert Simnell/Perkin Warbeck affairs, the most difficult probelms the monarch had to face in a time and in a kingdom of many uncertainties. The Simnell/Warbeck menaces embodied Henry Tudor’s greatest dilemmas, continually emphasised in Bacon’s work – the essence of legitimacy and the essence of royalty

On righteousness and dignity : two challenging issues since early modern times

Concepts such as righteousness, equality, tolerance and freedom are nowadays considered fundamental issues that should prevail in any society. Balance and righteousness thrive however on a very thin layer. We are, in fact, living in an era of duality and antithetical paradigms. This essay approaches two Renaissance authors who dealt with the same matters in their works, at a very different time and through different ways of reflection: Thomas More and Sir Walter Raleigh

Beholding a ‘Brave New World’: Sir Walter Raleigh’s The Discovery of Guiana and William Shakespeare’s The Tempest

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the idea of the world was broadened on an unprecendented scale. The Portuguese and the Spaniards dominated a first stage in the maritime expansion and even divided the planet into two halves. Those times were primarily characterized by a need to overcome the fear of the unknown, to explore and cross the oceans, to reach coast after coast and to register in maps and charts the new found lands. In the wake of the first explorers and benefiting from the extraordinary advancements in the art of navigation, the English, the French and the Dutch, particularly motivated by mercantile interests, started dominating a second stage of sea voyages. Beyond circumstances and motivations, both moments involved unparalleled events in the field of mentality and worldview: fragile ships managed to cross the vast oceans and arrive in unknown lands inhabited by unimaginable human races, plants and animals. From then on, an immense variety of works on voyages, discoveries and adventures was produced. After a brief approach to the general context of the time, I explore the broad dichotomy ‘Civilization versus Nature’ in two Renaissance English texts that, in very different ways, tell of sea voyages and behold a ‘Brave New World’: Sir Walter Raleigh’s The Discovery of Guiana (1595) and William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1623).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Metaphors of opulence and power in the life of Thomas Wolsey, the King’s Cardinal

This essay approaches the display of power and rulership both through the art of writing and the art of painting by focusing on George Cavendish's biographical account of Thomas Wolsey

Empowering Latina/o Families to Navigate College Access

Background With the education crisis of Latinas/os, it is important to understand ways to increase access to college for the most vulnerable youth (Gándara & Contreras, 2009). To investigate strengths that promote college accessibility in underserved Latina/o families, the current qualitative study assessed the following: (1) Prior to beginning the intervention program and after the intervention program what forms of capital did families possess? (2) How did participating in the program change adolescents’ perception of their parents’ capital? (3) How did adolescents use agency to apply what they learned in college information intervention over time? Methods Latina/o parent-adolescent dyads (N = 11) participated in a college knowledge program in California. Sample included girls (67%) and 11-16 years of age (M = 14.0, SD = 1.78). Five of 11 families were interviewed 6-months post-effects of the intervention program. Research study used grounded theory inductive analysis approach (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Results Question 1, Latina/o adolescents expressed aspirational, familial, navigational, and social capital before and after the intervention. Question 2, After participating in the intervention, adolescents expressed familial support through a combination of tangible (drop me off at school) and intangible (want me to be a good man) acts. Question 3, focused on the 6-month post-effects of the intervention program. Adolescents expressed agency by actively meeting requirements to apply to college, and understanding the path they need to reach their educational goals. Conclusion Discussion will focus on the importance of college information intervention programs in increasing Latino/a youth’s education experiences.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1107/thumbnail.jp

Sir Walter Raleigh and Guiana : a mysterious search, a metaphorical discovery

The essay analises Sir Walter Raleigh's report (1595) of his search for Guiana, as well as his reflection on the New World and its inhabitants, which is, in many aspects, different from his contemporaries

Sonetos e sequências de sonetos na literatura inglesa do Renascimento

Livro de homenagem à professora Maria Laura Bettencourt Pire

Sir Robert Sidney’s Poems Revisited: the alternative sequence

The essay approaches the lyric sequence written by Sir Robert Sidney (1563-1626) in the Elizabethan age, by mainly exploring its unique formal structure, which encloses an alternative sequence formed by a re-numbering of several poems

O(s) meu(s) livro(s).

O título desta sub-secção, que decidimos abrir, começa por ser, para mim, problemático. Porque muitos foram os livros da minha vida. Particularmente, na minha adolescência e juventude, em que, autenticamente, me assumi como consumidora activa e "devoradora" de livros. Muito li nessa época, umas vezes por obrigação, (escola, a quanto obrigas!), a maior parte das vezes por prazer e fruição