Connection: King Lear and Richard III

Shakespeare's play are not only beautiful works of art, but they also teach us something about the culture of the time period, especially in the context of social norms. For instance, both King Lear and Richard III share characters that illustrate the Elizabethan view of deformities and illegitimacy.

In King Lear we are introduced to Edmund the Bastard. We quickly become aware of his evil intentions and power lust. It was the Elizabethan view that illegitimate children were destined for evil. Lear even insults Reagan during the play calling her a "degenerate bastard". There is obviously a strong connection in the notion of evil actions and being of illegitimate birth. But in Edmund's soliloquy at the beginning of the play we discover another layer. Edmund feels oppressed by his position in society, he feels like the entire world is against him, therefore being an abomination gives him the right to be evil. Society molds him and fills his head with expectations that he feels compelled to live out.

Richard show striking similarities to Edmund in the play Richard III. Richard was born with a hunched back, and in Elizabethan times physical deformities were thought to have a direct correlation to a deformity of character. Shakespeare uses Richard's deformities to alert the audience that Richard is an evil and twisted man, the definitive antagonist of his play. Although similarly to Edmund, Richard gives a speech at the beginning that tells how society has oppressed him and that he feels like he has been a victim.

For a modern perspective we now understand that the circumstances of one's birth has little effect on what they turn out to be. Whether or not you were conceived while your parents were married or not does not directly translate to whether or not you will be a cruel and evil villain. To a modern reader, Edmund and Richard may appear to be victims of society and cannot truly be blamed for their actions. We view them with a twisted sense of compassion. But to Shakespeare, their impure births justify the tragedy of their stories; in his world the social outcasts do not win because they are inherently evil.

This confusion of perspectives further illustrates how even though societal views may change, Shakespeare's works shed light on human nature in a timeless way.