The “Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.”: The Aesthetics of Villainy in Shakespeare’s Richard III

Abstract

Plato informs us that villainy routes to vice while beauty begets virtue. This is quite necessary for his ideal city. Aristotle, however, mentions that the highly poetic representations of objects, good or evil, routes to beauty and enjoyment. Heinous things / people in this sense turn out to be pleasurable, thus, good. The Defence of Poesy of Sir Philip Sidney favours Aristotle’s view where aesthetics and the beauty of poetry are so intertwined. The poet dooms to be immortal while the historian dooms to be mortal. Shakespeare’s Richard III reflects the debate to raise further questions in relation to ethics and aesthetics. This articles expands upon the aesthetics of villainy in the play while analyzing Richard’s aspects of ugliness. The article strives to show that the audience chooses him for his poetic abilities, but also for his physical deformity and moral bankruptcy. And in doing so, it analyzes the way villainy and theatricality route to beauty and immortality.