In many religions and cultures, a demonic entity embodies the spirit of evil, ruler of hell, enemy of God and tempter of humanity. This rebellious figure often emerges in literature, and one of the best known is Satan, a defiant epitome of evil from John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. There has to be good in the presence of evil, so there has to be a hero that the villain clashes with, a bold character that the audience is rooting for. In Shakespeare's tragic play Richard III, Richard plays both the hero and villain roles using his heroic traits to emphasize his satanic personality. He is a satanic hero because he uses his political eloquence to rebel, his isolation leads him to oppose all moral constraints and he wears a mask of charisma to hide his selfish lust for power. In other words, Richard, like Satan, is elevated by heroic traits such as seductive eloquence, but is so deeply self-centered and vindictive that it precipitates his doomed downfall. Richard is deftly eloquent; however he chooses to Satanically convey this heroic trait by using it to emphasize his rebellious nature against love, politics and religion. Love is based on reciprocated affection between two individuals, but Richard rebels by using it as a political tool, to the point of suggesting incest at various points in the play. During the courtship scene, he wins Lady Anne's heart by saying, "Thy beauty was the cause of that effect: / Thy beauty, that haunted me in my sleep..." (1.2, 126-127) , blaming Anne's beauty as an incentive to murder. This quote implies that he plays with the emotions of others, winning over women and bringing out their vulnerability through “his insinuating speech” (Wilhelm, 20)... halfway through the paper... conscience finally emerges. Richard's isolation is the result of his ambition and isolation, and he is so absorbed in his plans for personal gain that he does not realize how he is lending himself to catastrophe. Richard, like Satan, is heroically lovable and well-spoken, but his greed and insubordinate lust for power lead to his predestined downfall. When Richard says, "I am determined to prove myself a villain," he implies the tragic conception of controlling his predestined destiny, and providentialism ultimately confirms this meaning. He uses his political eloquence to rebel, is isolated and therefore his mental and physical energy is unhampered by his moral deformity, and masks his satanic traits with charisma. Although the ending is tragic for Richard, it is a new beginning for England and, in a sense, Richard relieves England of its collective guilt..