In the historical drama The Tragedy of King Richard III, William Shakespeare writes about one of the vilest and most murderous characters in his canon, Richard III. Lacking scruples and compassion, Edward is willing to murder anyone who stands in his way to the throne. Ultimately he will be defeated by Richmond at the Battle of Bosworth, but not before he cuts a bloody path to power and the throne. However, in the beginning of the play, Shakespeare provides us with an insecure and jealous Richard III in order to show us that the bloody monster Richard becomes through the course of the action is motivated by his insecurity and jealousy.
We see at the beginning of the play that Richard III has great ambitions for power and that he is very jealous that his brother Edward IV ascends to the throne. We see his jealously and his contempt for his brother when Richard says, "Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this son of York" (Shakespeare, I.i.1-2). We see that Richard is also very insecure about his person. He is misshapen and believes his unattractive appearance is another reason he has been slighted. As we are told, Richard is "cheated by feature of nature, deformed" to the point where dogs bark as he passes by (Shakespeare, I.i.19-20). We see Richard views himself as monstrous and it is a monstrous course he will choose to adopt to get what he sees as rightfully his.
Shakespeare provides a very truthful development of Richard, because, right from the start, he begins plotting to get what feels is his just due. His jealousy and contempt for his brother and his own insecurities make him determine he will choose a dark path. As he tells us right from the outset, "I am determined to prove a villain / And hate the idle pleasures of these days. / Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous" (Shakespeare, I.i.32-34). We see that Richard's development by Shakespeare is driven by his...