The Don of Avon: Scarface Bill Shakespeare
An Analysis of 1593's "The Tragedy of Richard III" & 1932's "Scarface".
Once the winter of their homeland’s discontent was made glorious summer by treaties and merry meetings, one man (who wasn’t shaped for sportive tricks, nor made to court an amorous looking glass) was determined to prove a villain and hate the idle pleasures of such days. In Shakespeare’s Medieval England, such a man was the hunchbacked King Richard III, and in Howard Hughes’ 1920’s America, it was the mafioso Antonio “Tony” Camonte. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the mythical monster and sociopath that is Shakespeare’s “Richard of Gloucester” and Howard Hughes’ cinematic adaptation of Al Capone (Tony Camonte) to further emphasize how such villainous figures at face value are in fact tragic figures, who fall from grace by means of greed, ambition, and the shedding of blood; and ultimately embrace their appropriate fates by the sword of justice.
At first glance, it must be fully understood that the real people for which these characters are based off of are not accurate reflections. It is recognized historically that King Richard III and Al Capone were never as evil as the elements of entertainment have made them out to be. There’s no evidence that Richard ever killed his own nephews in the Tower of London, and based off of the excavation of his body in a Leicester parking lot, his “hunched back” was merely a case of hereditary scoliosis; he didn’t even have a withered arm. In the case of Mr. Capone, his scar across his left cheek was the result of a bar fight when he was eighteen; and he was merely a bookkeeper for the actual Chicago mafioso Johnny Torrio (who took the metaphorical “throne” of the Chicago mob after hiring a New York assassin to kill Giacomo “Big Jim” Colosimo). After Torrio retired from the mob in 1925, it was Capone who was deemed most fit to take his place as the kingpin of “The Outfit”. Yet, what we do see in common with the fictionalized entities, based off of these very real historical figures, is the story of an underdog’s rise to the top; fueled by greed and with the proper methods at their disposal to achieve what they desire, no matter the cost. In essence they are underdogs who suffer from rabies. The audience which witnesses their paths to power and influence can recognize how they to be morally and physically portrayed as such. In the case of Shakespeare’s Richard, it is his hunched back and withered arm; and in the case of Howard Huges’ Tony Camonte, it is his scar across his cheek. Both of these characters fully understand how these imperfections result in a pejorative exterior, but they are both skilled in the art of manipulation; they show themselves off to the open world as upstanding figures in their communities, only until their ability to pretend is no more and the world sees them for who they really are.
GLOUCESTER: That it may please you leave these sad designs to him that hath most cause to be a mourner, and presently repair to Crosby House; where (after I have solemnly interred at Chertsey monast’ry this noble king, and wet his grave with my repentant tears) I will with all expedient duty see you. For divers unknown reasons, I beseech you, grant me this boon.
LADY ANNE: With all my heart, and much it joys me too, to see you are become so penitent. Tressel and Berkeley, go along with me.
GLOUCESTER: Bid me farewell.
LADY ANNE: ’Tis more than you deserve; But since you teach me how to flatter you, Imagine I have said farewell already.
Exeunt two, Tressel and Berkeley, with Anne.
GLOUCESTER: Sirs, take up the corse.
GENTLEMAN: Towards Chertsey, noble lord?
GLOUCESTER: No; to White-Friars, there attend my coming.
EXIT CORPSE WITH HALBERDS.
GLOUCESTER: Was ever woman in this humor woo’d? Was ever woman in this humor won? I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long. What? I, that kill’d her husband and his father,t o take her in her heart’s extremest hate, with curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes, the bleeding witness of my hatred by, having God, her conscience, and these bars against me, and I no friends to back my suit at all but the plain devil and dissembling looks? And yet to win her! All the world to nothing! Hah! (1.2.197-224)
As both Richard III and Tony Camonte build their inner circle and ascend to the top of their social hierarchy’s by killing off rivals and manipulating the figures of law and order, it is only a matter of time until such manipulation and games of pretending open the curtain to the monstrous reality which lies beneath these character’s physical deformities. We the audience objectivly know this and can anticipate their inevitable downfalls, but for these characters which once devoted themselves to these villainous rogues, it’s an extremely bitter pill to swallow. Once Richard crowns himself as the King of England after the Princes in the Tower (Edward V & Richard the Duke of York) “mysteriously disappear”, he begins to expose his true self, now that his need to manipulate and decieve people is no longer needed. His closest allies in the royal court begin to question his authority and even his own mother begins to despise him, which only leads to them becoming the newest names on his hit list (regardless if Richard feels any sense of remorse in having to kill them). With his killing spree being exposed to the public light for which he once hid under the guise of gentility, the young Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, vows that enough is enough, and that he will raise an army to relinquish England of this tyrannical psychopath of a king.
RICHMOND: Fellows in arms, and my most loving friends, bruised underneath the yoke of tyranny, thus far into the bowels of the land have we march’d on without impediment; and here receive we from our father Stanley lines of fair comfort and encouragement. The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar, that spoil’d your summer fields and fruitful vines, swills your warm blood like wash, and makes his trough in your embowell’d bosoms, this foul swine lies now even in the centre of this isle, near to the town of Leicester, as we learn from Tamworth thither is but one day’s march. In God’s name, cheerly on, courageous friends, to reap the harvest of perpetual peace by this one bloody trial of sharp war. (5.2.1-16)
With Tony Camonte, he and his partner, Johnny Lovo, kill off Chicago crime body “Big Louis” Costillo; using the power of the automobile and the Thompson submachine gun to eliminate every gang leader along the northern half of the city (with one ambush cinematically resembling the infamous “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre”), until the entire North Side Gang is no more. It’s only after Tony reaches the top of the Windy City’s criminal underworld when his former mentor, Johnny Lovo, becomes jealous over Tony romantic advances on the speakeasy dancer Poppy. After Johnny tries to kill Tony in a drive-by shooting, Tony and one of his best henchmen, Guino Rinaldo, kill Johnny; making Tony the undisputed kingpin of the city. Though the killing spree doesn't stop there. Guino secretly sparks a relationship and marries Tony’s sister, Francesca “Cesca” Camonte. When Tony learns of this betrayal from another one of his closest allies, he angrily and bluntly shoots Guino right in front of Cesca. This allows the city’s law enforcement the perfect opportunity to track Tony down and bring him to justice.
The finale of both of these stories culminate in violent showdowns between the true monstrosities which have transformed these once honest and upright men (Tony and Richard) and the forces of order which are fully vowed to strip them of their power and deliver the necessary justice (Henry Tudor & the Chicago Chief of Detectives). In the case of Richard, his ruthless life of the sword is ended by the swords of Henry and his knights at the Battle of Bosworth Field. However, in no moment does Richard cower in fear. He assembles an army of his own and willingly leads the charge against Henry. Yet, Henry refuses to fight on orthodox terms of medieveal warfare; ordering to have Richard's horse killed from under him (rendering him to fight only on foot) and have several of his knights wear duplicates of his armor, which would confuse Richard’s men in the field, as they try to figure out which one is the real Henry Tudor. Once Richard find’s the real Henry it’s far too late. His fellow knights surround him and proceed to stab him to death.
CATESBY: Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue! The king enacts more wonders than a man, daring an opposite to every danger: His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, seeking for Richmond in the throat of death. Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!
ALARUMS. ENTER KING RICHARD III.
KING RICHARD III: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
CATESBY: Withdraw, my lord; I’ll help you to a horse.
KING RICHARD III: Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, and I will stand the hazard of the die: I think there be six Richmonds in the field; five have I slain to-day instead of him. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! (5.4.1-13)
For the mobster Tony Camonte, his personal Battle of Bosworth comes when the police surround lay siege to Tony's home and demand his surrender. However, Tony still believes he has a chance to hold his throne and shoots it out with his arsenal of firearms; laughing maniacally and bitting his thumb at the law until a stray bullet kills his sister, Cesca, and gas grenades are thrown into the house. His cries for Cesca to get up and stay with him as she slowly bleeds to death mirrors King Richard’s begging for a much needed horse. As the tear gas fills up the room, Tony attempts to sneak out only to be cornered by the Chief of Detectives and a posse of cops. At first he pretends to give himself up (as he is now unarmed), but attempts to break past the posse, only to be gunned down by a hail of gunfire and die in a gutter underneath a flashing sign, saying THE WORLD IS YOURS.
Yet, in the midst of these stories of men consumed by greed and ruthless violence, there lies a strong contextualization. Both Richard of Gloucester and Antonio Camonte were warriors. One a warrior king from a series of English dynastic wars, and the other a criminal kingpin from the street battles and drive by shootings of gangland Chicago. They rose to the top of their worlds and rather than submit to their defeats, cower in fear, or rot behind the bars of a cold prison cell, they both stood tall in defiance and fought to the end. Like a gambler on the verge of losing it all, they chose to go all in and walk away with either everything they earned or nothing at all (including their lives).
Works Cited
- Greenblatt, Stephen. The Norton Shakespeare: Essential Plays & The Sonnets. W. W. Norton & Company, 2006, Print. Accessed July 26, 2020.
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Canterbury Classics, 2014, Print. Accessed July 26, 2020.
- Stone, Phil. Richard III Society Website. Richard III Society. http://www.richardiii.net/index.php. Web. Accessed July 26, 2020.
- Smith, Nathan. “Seeking the Humanity of Al Capone”. Smithsonian.com. October 24, 2016. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/seeking-humanity-al-capone-180960880/. Web. Accessed July 26, 2020.
- “Richard III - Shakespeare Month the Fourth” YouTube, uploaded by KyleKallgrenBHH, August 11, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qpkpaj-2VA&t=722s. Web. Accessed July 26, 2020.
- “The Real Scarface: Al Capone (Full Documentary)” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Weird Cool Shows, May 11, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Eexh3jFjw. Web. Accessed July 26, 2020.
- “1932: Scarface - Defining the American Gangster Film” YouTube, uploaded by One Hundred Years of Cinema. June 4, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDaY8Je1wPs. Web. Accessed July 26, 2020.
About the Creator
Jacob Herr
Born & raised in the American heartland, Jacob Herr graduated from Butler University with a dual degree in theatre & history. He is a rough, tumble, and humble artist, known to write about a little bit of everything.
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