Chandler, David. Representing the Mad King: George III in the Cinema. THIS IS AN REVIEW - Article Example

Representing the Mad King The article d ‘Representing the Mad King: George III in the Cinema’ by David Chandler explores the fame of one of the British Monarch’s King, King George III, resulting from his ‘madness’, as well as problems associated with his representation. The author does this by investigating the gripping cinematic interpretations of the ‘Mad King’ in two movies; ‘the Madness of King George’ and ‘Beau Brummell’ of years 1994 and 1954 respectively. The author also explores the pre-mid 20th century lack of representations to support his thesis.

In these two material sources, the author presents three bits of evidence in backing up his claim of ‘madness’ of the King namely mental illness understanding, political consequences and the changing of the thoughts towards the monarch. Under political consequences evidence, the King undoubtedly became deranged as he estranged himself from his father to the extent of sufficing the opposition leader to use this derangement to change the government. Second, the King’s sufferings drew changed attitudes towards the monarchy where even the opposition members felt sympathy towards him.

Third, all doctors who attended to him asserted his ailment went beyond simple categorization of derangement. The strengths of article stem from the choice of the two films which precisely explain the period in which the king lived. The movies, especially ‘the Madness of King George’ involve personalization of characters and adhere to the story of individuals as the convention of history of Hollywood. For instance, Lady Pembroke and Greville represent the court whereas while the disagreement and diverse medical procedures utilized illustrate the medical practice inconsistency in that period (Chandler 73).

The weakness of Chandler’s work is that it mainly dwells on the king’s and his family’s emotional experiences without taking into consideration the political considerations surrounding it. This emphasis fails to bring out objective portrayal of the context of the period of the King and his ‘madness’.Work citedChandler, David. Representing the Mad King: George III in the Cinema. Journal of Popular Film and Television, (2008): 73-81.