Informal Review of "The King's Speech" (Character Motivations and Their Effects on Plot)

                The King’s Speech is a historical drama about King George VI’s struggle with a life-long speech impediment. At the beginning of the film our main character, referred to by his speech therapist as, “Bertie,” is not the king of England, but the Duke of York and the second in line for the throne. After countless tries with other therapists, Bertie’s wife, Elizabeth, finds Doctor Lionel Logue, who is the first therapist to have any kind of success with Bertie. Eventually, Lionel and Bertie become good friends and Lionel helps Bertie to overcome more than just his speech impediment. This friendship is especially important when Bertie’s brother, David, steps down from his position as king to marry his mistress, who is not deemed suitable for marriage by the Catholic Church because she has been divorced in the past. Lionel helps Bertie prepare for his coronation, his first official speech as king, and is present for every other speech he would go on to give in the future. One of the most prevalent features of The King’s Speech is its characters and its use of character motives to further the plot.

                There are four main characters in The King’s Speech that have clear motives: Bertie, Lionel, David, and Elizabeth. In the beginning, Bertie’s motivation is to learn to speak better so as not to embarrass himself and to please his father, who is still the king at the beginning of the film. However, after Bertie replaces David as king after their father dies, Bertie’s need to overcome his speech impediment grows from simply avoiding embarrassment to needing to speak effectively in order to be a good leader. Both forms of Bertie’s motivation move the plot forward because overcoming his speech impediment is the central conflict of the entire movie.

Lionel’s motive remains mostly the same throughout the film. Throughout the film Lionel’s motivation is to help Bertie overcome his speech impediment first as a teacher helping a pupil, then, later, as a friend who wants to see another friend rise to their full potential. Lionel’s motivation is responsible for furthering the plot in that he is the only one who can help Bertie overcome his speech impediment, which is the central conflict.

Next, we have David, whose only true motivation is to please himself no matter the cost. This selfishness moves the plot along by adding higher stakes to the central conflict when David abdicates the throne, making it more important than ever for Bertie to overcome his speech impediment.

Lastly, we have Elizabeth, played by Helena Bonham Carter. Although I did not know much about her life at the time I first watched The King’s Speech, I have seen Carter in other films. Even though it was strange to see her acting outside of her usual typecast of deranged lunatic with extremely curly hair (such as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeny Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Bellatrix Lestrange in several of the Harry Potter films), it was refreshing to see her in a different role and it did not affect my view of the film in the least. Her motivation in the role as Elizabeth in The King’s Speech is solely to be supportive of her husband and to encourage him to do his best. While her motive seems to have nothing to do with the plot, without it there would be no plot. It was her finding Doctor Lionel without her husband’s knowledge or permission that kicked the plot into motion and allowed the two friends to meet, thus ensuring Bertie’s eventual success in beating his speech impediment and learning to speak publicly.

                Not only is The King’s Speech’s use of plot and genre amazing, its use of character motive to further the plot is even more impressive. All of the characters mesh incredibly well together and even the ones with very little screen time still have a fair amount of influence over the plot. For all the reasons listed above and more, I highly recommend this film.