Richard III=Aaron
Comments(1) When reading Richard III did anyone else feel as though Aaron was reincarnated? Within the first two scenes alone it is very clear that Richard he evil for the sake of being evil and manipulative for the fun of knowing he is smarter than everyone else. He pits his brothers against each other so that he can eliminate them both, and then tries to woo Lady Anne, which delights him because he killed her husband and father in-law.
Both Aaron and Richard make clear the fact that they are evil Aaron says that though he’s done a thousand bad things “Nothing grieves me heartily indeed/But that I can not do ten thousand more.” And Richard declares to the audience, “I am determined to prove a villain” within his opening soliloquy. Also just as Aaron was physically marred because of his skin color, Richard is also physically marred through some deformity. Maybe their desire to show superiority is linked to their feelings of inadequacy.
It is also strange that Shakespeare chose to write this character as evil. After doing some research on Richard III (aka a quick Wikipedia search) I found that though there were some allegations that he (spoiler alert!) ordered the death of a couple princes, there is no real evidence nor reason to write a play in which he is, as Lady Anne put it, the devil. Though I understand that the play was written when another house was in the monarchy so there is no direct criticism of the queen, doesn’t writing a play like this lead the audience to question the validity and motive of any monarch?
It totally agree with you that there are major similarities between Aaron and Richard the third. As you mentioned, they both want to be evil for the sake of being evil, and they are both marked by physical differences. While in Aaron’s case it was that he was black, and in Richard’s it is because he is a hunchback, I picture Richard the third to be exponentially more grotesque (after all, Aaron was just looked down upon because of his skin color and the unfortunate fact that it was the “fair” hue of the time). It’s weird though because, one major difference is that Richard the third was BORN into a position of power that would have commanded respect automatically. Richard abuses this. Aaron, on the other hand, was just a slave, which is the total opposite end of the social hierarchy.
I think that Richard the third’s quest to be evil more so stemmed out of lust. For example, he says something like, “Since I cannot be a lover, I will be a villain.” Wow–Talk about seeing the world in black and white! Immediately after, he tries to woo Lady Anne, which is just despicable. Can somebody please tell me how he succeeds at this?!