Richard III Paper
Uploaded by loop187 on Jun 04, 2001
To achieve goals, in one's life, one must be determined and focused. In the play Richard III, Richard III's goal is to ascend the throne. There are two ways that one can claim the throne, by birthright, or by might. Since Richard III cannot claim the throne by right he must therefore take it by might. To accomplish this goal Richard, Duke of Gloucester, must be determined to achieve his goal at all costs and he must have the characteristics to meet his determination.
In the first scene of the play, Richard announces in a narration, his plan to become king. Richard is truly a Machiavel. A Machiavel is “one who views politics as amoral and that any means, however unscrupulous, can justifiably be used to achieve power”. Richard plainly states that he is "Deformed, Unfinished, and sent before his time" and "since he cannot prove to be a lover; he is determined to prove a villain". As a villain Richard must be heartless; he cannot let his emotions interfere with his actions. He must also be intelligent and organized; a villain must know exactly what he has to do, when he has to do it and how he is going to do it. "A villain must also be manipulative and persuasive so that if he is accused of a crime, or if he finds himself between a rock and a hard place, he is able to talk his way out or convince people that he did not commit the crimes in question. A villain must also have scapegoats to use if he is discovered or if he is in a dangerous situation". Richard devised a brutal stratagem to ascend the English throne. Brilliantly, he executed his plan. Heartlessly, he executed family, friends, and subjects. Richard did indeed display these characteristics and, therefore, fulfilled his goal to ascend the throne.
With his elder brother, King Edward IV, dying, Richard believes himself to be the most qualified to rule. He sets his plan to ascend to the throne into action. The first step was to lock up the rightful heir, his other brother George, Duke of Clarence, in the tower. He demonstrates his manipulative skills and plants the seeds of distrust in his brother Clarence's head. He tells Clarence that it is not the king that is locking him up in the tower, "'Tis not the king that sends you to the tower;...