How A White Lie Can Lead To Self-Destruction

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How A White Lie Can Lead To Self-Destruction

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It would be difficult to find a passage more emblematic of Richard's III's character than the soliloquy concluding 1.2. In the presence of the corpse of her father-in-law, Henry VI (whom Richard himself has slain, as well as her husband), Richard propositions Lady Anne. It is a testament to his cunning that he is able to win her over; he has convinced her that he killed Henry VI and Edward for her love, and that he is truly penitent. It is via this deception that Lady Anne is able to overlook Richard's transgressions, as well as her own suspicions over his honesty. After she leaves, Richard speaks his true feelings, reminding us of exactly who he is.

In this speech, Richard sets up thematic oppositions: beauty vs. ugliness, good vs. evil, and love vs. hate. That which is hateful, angry, evil, and disfigured he associates with himself. In contrast loveliness, sweetness, valiance, and beauty are associated with Edward. The comparison between the two men is made explicit: "And yet she still abase her eyes on me / That cropped the golden prime of this sweet prince / And made her widow to woeful bed? / On me, whose all not equals Edward's moiety? / On me, that halts and am misshapen thus?" From the beginning of the play up until this point, Richard has aligned himself solely with the side of ugliness. At the end of this passage, however, there is a split. Richard considers a different view of himself, one of beauty. This is pivotal to the development of Richard's character. He says, "My dukedom to a beggarly denier / I do mistake my person all this while / Upon my life she finds, although I cannot / Myself to be a marv'lous proper man." This introduces a duality to Richard's self...

... middle of paper ...

...is reference to self-perception. Antony, similar to Richard and Othello, are aligned with undesirable qualities, as with the words "Detest my baseness".

Once again it is simple perception, taken at face value, which impels desire--in this case to a destructive end. Antony, Desdemona, and Lady Anne have all cast their fates based on thin (or thinly disguised) images proposed by the objects of their desire. Simple ideas are quickly converted into life-altering actions--in these plays, marriage and suicide. Further, the self-conceptions of Richard, Othello, and Antony act as mirrors, the reflective images of which in turn influence their own desires. A cycle is put in motion, the eventual outcome of which is a loss of self. Taken thus, these passages comment on the ease of influencing people, and the chaotic potential within the human psyche.

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