Deformity and Social Pressures

                This past Friday, we in Literature and Philosophy discussed how deformity and monstrosity play a part in Richard III. We approached this discussion through the lens of several other works we’ve read over the past week, including pieces such as WEB Dubois’ “The Souls of Black Folks” and Linda Charnes’ “On Reading the Monstrous Body in Richard III,” as well as the general ideology of Aristotle.

                We took the idea of deformity as a sign of immorality and extrapolated it further into what its impact might have been on Richard’s life before the play begins.

                Even within the short time span of the first three acts of Richard III, Richard is called devilish and hellish many times. Furthermore, he is frequently insulted for his deformity. Considering his society’s views on the meaning of deformity, perhaps both insults were telling Richard the same thing: you are evil.

                Now contemplate what Richard’s life must have been like before the play begins. It is unlikely that those around him started their taunts and insults only within the action that we see. Rather, it is far more likely that Richard has been dealing with these insults, with these declarations of his ill character, for his entire life. Moreover, due to society’s influence, it is likely that he believes in the superstition the rest of his society holds: that deformity signifies inherent evil. As he has lived with deformity his entire life, he may have internalized the belief that he is inherently evil and has no choice but to prove a villain.

                To complicate the matter a bit, we looked at Richard’s character from the perspective of WEB Dubois’ “The Souls of Black Folks.” In this work, Dubois speaks of a dual-consciousness within blacks, a double image of themselves. One comes from what society thinks they are, the other comes from who they believe they are. He also goes on to describe the conflict between the two consciousnesses—how it can cause a great deal of strife within the mind of afflicted.

                It is hard to argue that Richard displays a dual-consciousness within the play itself. He seems confident in his actions, never hesitating to murder even his own brother. However, we discussed the idea that all that we see of Richard’s dual-consciousness is within his opening monologue. That all the conflict that occurs within Richard, the entire battle between what society expects and what he believes himself to be, takes place before the play begins. We speculated that perhaps Richard’s opening monologue is his capitulation to society’s expectations: he cannot prove a lover, as he believes himself to be, so he will prove a villain, as society desires.
              Despite this capitulation, however, we believe that a part of Richard’s self-generated consciousness is displayed through his incredible eloquence in his rhetoric. The deformed were evil and monstrous within Richard’s society—they were certainly not well spoken or charismatic. These traits were far more likely to be attributed to handsome, romantic characters like Romeo. As such, we consider Richard’s rhetoric to be something that he cherishes within himself, something that he cultivated as a part of his own identity, and something that remains despite his concession to society’s whims.

To read more on deformity, see "Deformity as Clarification" and "Deformity and Feminization"

By: Jessica C., Hockaday School