Essay On Richard In Julius Caesar Act 1 Scene 1

Richard, also called the Duke of Gloucester is both the main character and also the unredeemable villain of the play. The audience could receive an impression of Richard through his actions and when he expresses his thoughts through the monologues. During the first scenes, Richard is able to manipulate the audience and the other characters in the play to sympathise and pity him because of his physical deformity. “And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain.” (Act One Scene One) This suggests us that Richard is ungrateful and ashamed with the fact that he was born deformed and ugly, and therefore, vows to make everybody around him miserable. Additionally, in Act Three Scene One, Richard was compared to an ape by the young Duke of York. “Uncle, my brother mocks both you and me. Because that I am little, like an ape, He thinks that you should bear me on your shoulders.”

It is apparent that Richard is envious with his own brother, King Edward IV, who is going to occupy the throne and replace Edward VI due to a serious ill. We could see in Act One Scene One, when all of England is celebrating King Edward IV on becoming a king, Richard does not want to join and instead isolating himself from the others. From his monologues, the reader will also be able to catch his overpowering desire to be a king and seeks to gain control over the entire