Banos 1
Angela Banos
Dr. Rusty Witek
English 131.02
15 September 2003
The main theme in Richard III is the conflict between what is good and what is immoral. Richard represents the most unpleasant qualities of a human soul. He is able to cover any dishonest practice pretending that he is acting according to the rules. His ambition is the power that moves the play forward and his only goal is to cause destruction and finally become king of England. I have chosen scene iii in act V, 181-207, to represent the work because this passage shows the conflict between good and evil, one of the main themes in the book.
In the beginning of the passage, Richard has just woken up after his visitations by the ghosts. This is the only moment when we can see his conscious talking to him. It is midnight, the time when the witches go out, and Richard is so afraid, he sweats. He realizes that his feeling might be caused by the self conscience of his own evil nature. “What do I fear? Myself? There’s none else by. Richard loves Richard; that is, I and I.” (182-185). This last expression confirms that the two selves are emerging. His attitude is different now in comparison to the beginning of the play, when he talked to the audience and seemed to be in total control of the situation. His monologues, as the soliloquy in act I, i shows, speak directly to the audience. The spectator actually knows more than any other character in the play. Although this passage is also a soliloquy and is near the end of the play, Richard is dialoguing with himself, not with the audience. He has just realized he is the most horrifying person he could be left alone with. He asks himself a rhetorical question: “Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am.”(185). Then he says:
