Richard Iii
1- Richard III, The Protagonist “Yet neither can his blood redeem him [Richard III] from injurious tongues, nor the reproach offered his body be thought cruel enough, but that we must still make him more cruelly infamous in Pamphlets and Plays.” (1617—William Cornwallis. From Essays of Certaine Paradoxes)
Richard III is written in 1591-1592. Richard III is the dominant character of the play as that he is both the protagonist of the story and its major villain as he possesses both the heroic and villiniary qualities. Richard III is an intense exploration of the psychology of evil, and that exploration is centered on Richard’s mind. Critics sometimes compare Richard to the medieval character, Vice, who was a flat and one-sided embodiment of evil. Richard at the end proves to be highly self-reflective and complicated—making his heinous acts all the more chilling. He hires thugs to kill most of his family and other people in power in order to gain the throne. At one point he seduces Lady Anne to gain power through her familial connections. He then rumors her sickness and impending death in order to kill her in the same way he slaughtered her father and husband. Once he has killed his two young cousins, his brother, and other people who stand in his way, he becomes King Richard III.
The audience of Richard III experiences a complex, ambiguous, and highly changeable relationship with the main character. Richard is clearly a villain—he declares outright in his very first speech that he intends to stop at nothing to achieve his nefarious designs. But despite his open allegiance to evil, he is such a charismatic and fascinating figure that, for much of the play, we are likely to sympathize with him, or at least to be impressed with him. Even characters such as Lady Anne, who has an explicit knowledge of his wickedness, allow themselves to be seduced by his brilliant wordplay, his skillful argumentation, and his relentless pursuit of
Richard III is written in 1591-1592. Richard III is the dominant character of the play as that he is both the protagonist of the story and its major villain as he possesses both the heroic and villiniary qualities. Richard III is an intense exploration of the psychology of evil, and that exploration is centered on Richard’s mind. Critics sometimes compare Richard to the medieval character, Vice, who was a flat and one-sided embodiment of evil. Richard at the end proves to be highly self-reflective and complicated—making his heinous acts all the more chilling. He hires thugs to kill most of his family and other people in power in order to gain the throne. At one point he seduces Lady Anne to gain power through her familial connections. He then rumors her sickness and impending death in order to kill her in the same way he slaughtered her father and husband. Once he has killed his two young cousins, his brother, and other people who stand in his way, he becomes King Richard III.
The audience of Richard III experiences a complex, ambiguous, and highly changeable relationship with the main character. Richard is clearly a villain—he declares outright in his very first speech that he intends to stop at nothing to achieve his nefarious designs. But despite his open allegiance to evil, he is such a charismatic and fascinating figure that, for much of the play, we are likely to sympathize with him, or at least to be impressed with him. Even characters such as Lady Anne, who has an explicit knowledge of his wickedness, allow themselves to be seduced by his brilliant wordplay, his skillful argumentation, and his relentless pursuit of