Deceived from within: monstrosity and villainy in William Shakespeare's Richard III

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dc.contributorWhiting, Frederick
dc.contributorBurch, Steven D.
dc.contributor.advisorMcElroy, Tricia A.
dc.contributor.authorBone, Kirstin Marie
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-01T16:47:35Z
dc.date.available2017-03-01T16:47:35Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractWilliam Shakespeare's Richard III has been the victim of a gross crime: For four hundred years, he has been condemned as a dastardly villain. Scholars and performers alike have declared that Richard is obviously evil, but little do they realize that they have been deceived. Richard's villainy is not as apparent as it would seem, but instead is a construction that comes from within the play itself. Ultimately, this construction is Shakespeare's, and, like a magnifying glass, it is meant to direct our attention to the fallacy of conflating deformity and villainy. We are not meant to believe the relationship presented in the text; instead, we are meant to question it. By critically examining how Richard's identity shifts from a valorous war hero in the Henry VI plays to the destructive Machiavel of Richard III, a more nuanced and dynamic representation of Renaissance monstrosity emerges. Shakespeare's text functions as an exploratory space that challenges his audience to consider the nature of internal discourse and the role of deformity in shaping a man's nature. In doing so, it can be shown that deformity did not equate to evil; instead, the only true course to villainy was through a person's actions.en_US
dc.format.extent59 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0001249
dc.identifier.otherBone_alatus_0004M_11546
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/1719
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectBritish and Irish literature
dc.subjectTheater history
dc.subjectGender studies
dc.titleDeceived from within: monstrosity and villainy in William Shakespeare's Richard IIIen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of English
etdms.degree.disciplineEnglish
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.levelmaster's
etdms.degree.nameM.A.

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