How Far Is Richard III A Hero?

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King Richard III

How Far Is Richard III A Hero?

In my opinion Richard is definitely not a hero, he is nothing more than an immoral villain. He is a cunning, callous and carefree murderer. However, for much of the play the audience view him as a hero. Throughout my essay I aim to argue why Richard is an immoral villain whilst contrasting why many may perceive him as a hero.

For much of the play Richard may be seen as a hero. One reason for this is his dramatic language. Shakespeare's use of long, fascinating monologues in which Richard outlines his evil plans and thoughts are central to the audiences experiences and impressions of Richard. Thus, enabling his manipulative character to charm the audience. In (1, 1, 125-127) Richard speaks to the audience about his time at war. 'Our bruised arms hung up for monuments' (1, 1, 125) he creates an image that they have hung their armour up victoriously. This would therefore suggest that he his heroic as he has led his side to victory. When saying 'I, that am rudely stamp'd and want love's majesty' (1, 1, 126) Richard gains sympathy from the audience as he is saying that he was badly made and doesn't have the looks to gain love from a woman, unlike others who can enjoy 'sportive tricks'(1, 1, 14). The audiences sympathy for Richard is also enhanced when he mentions' that so lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me'(1, 1, 23). The way in which he talks about his victories and uses the pronoun 'our' before 'I' pushes the audience to look upon him as a hero, as we are learning that he has fought amongst others to gain victory for his country, before then learning about his faults. For example that he is so hideously disfigured that dogs bark at him.
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Shakespeare cleverly uses soliloquy within the opening of the play to reveal Richards evil plans to the audience without revealing them to the other characters. For example, 'I am determined to prove a villain' and 'About a prophecy which says that "G" of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be. Dive, thoughts, down to my soul. Here Clarence comes.' the audience will still view him as a hero, because of the way he hides his cunning and deceitful plans from others. By doing so we could question whether Shakespeare is genuine, as he is wrongfully leads us to like ...

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