shakespeare

889 Words2 Pages

Shakespeare’s, Richard III depicts the unscrupulous rise to power and ensuing short reign of Richard III of England. Through all of his plays, Richard is becoming known as the perfect villain for the way he raises to power. We know that Richard is obviously a villain by the way he single-handedly orchestrates all of the chaos and violence throughout the course of the play. However, Richard III makes the readers reevaluate the meaning of what a hero really is. As malevolent as he is, there is no question that he is the play’s protagonist. He is motivated by self-interest and the play’s plot is ultimately developed around his battle to become the king and remain in power over the people. The reader’s get in depth looks at his character and they almost develop a false sense of sympathy for the jealousy and pain that he had endured, while blatantly disregarding the fact that he is a murderer. On the other hand, he can be viewed in some aspects as the hero of the play. As crazy as this may be, Richard shares some noble qualities that heroes have. During his rise to power, he displayed perseverance and courage in a way that was never thought possible.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a villain as, “a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.” According to this definition, making the argument for why he is the play’s villain is quite simple. It is apparent that Richard will stop at nothing to achieve his ultimate goal whether it is betraying his own flesh and blood or killing someone to rise to power. While speaking to his brother, Clarence, who is in jail, he says, “Well, your imprisonment shall not be long; I will deliver or else lie for you. (RIII 1.1.10) Richard is as tricky as he is scheming. While it...

... middle of paper ...

...Richard makes a number of costly choices. The most apparent mistake he makes throughout the play is his child like persistence to “prove a villain.” He tries to prove the latter so much; it in turn does the opposite. This tragic flaw ultimately brings forward his greatest mistake throughout the play.
There are very considerable arguments on both sides for whether Richard is the play’s most obvious villain or the unsung tragic hero. Tying them together, I feel that although he meets all of Aristotle’s requirements to be called the tragic hero, the argument proving he is the villain is far more convincing. Richard’s display of malevolence and manipulation are enough to prove intent. To be called classified as a tragic hero would give readers a false sense of his character and would be a complete misrepresentation of how Shakespeare made him out to be.

Open Document