In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Richard III, the main character is a malevolent scheming man who manipulates his peers and family members to further advance his social and political standing. In Ian Frederick Moulton’s article “A monster Great Deformed”: The Unruly Masculinity of Richard III, he explains that Shakespeare used Richard to embody the maximum masculine being. During a time when England was being ruled by a woman, the gender roles seemed to be blurred and many men were taking the roles of women and vice versa. This character is a response to this occurrence, Shakespeare created a character that was to embody all things masculine and repel all things feminine. This makes Richard’s selfish plots and also his physical deformity explicated by his exaggerated masculine embodiment.
In Richard’s opening soliloquy he shows his disgust with this shift from masculine aspects to feminine characteristics. “Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, Our dreadful marched to delightful measures. Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front, And now instead of mounting barbed steeds to fright the souls of fearful adversaries, he capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber to the lascivious pleasing of a lute” (Act 1. 1. 7-13). It seems as though he is celebrating the war is over, but he is mocking a world that is satisfied with feminine aspects and without war. In his article Moulton explains as to why Richard’s deformity is considered masculine, “In the absence of strong masculine royal authority, English manhood, unruled and untamed, turns to devour itself. It is this unregulated, destructive masculine force that is personified in the twisted and deformed body of Richard III” (Moulton, 258). Richard is all masculine because he chooses to be. He chooses to work towards personal power rather than love or honor. He is selfish to no end and will kill his own family to achieve his goals. Also in his opening soliloquy he brags about setting up his own brother to be jailed so that the list of men between him and the throne is shorter.
Richard does evil and manipulative things to move his way up the political hierarchy. What motivates make him to makes these decisions, makes him the epitome of masculinity. This can be realized in Richard’s opening soliloquy, and by reading Moulton’s article.
Sources:
Moulton, Ian F. ""A Monster Grea Deformed": The Unruly Masculinity of Richard III." Shakespeare Quarterly 47.3 (1996): 251-68. Web.
Shakespeare, William, and David M. Bevington. Richard III. Toronto: Bantam, 1988. Print.
