How a white lie can lead to self-destruction[1]It would be difficult to find a passage more emblematic of Richard III's character than the concluding soliloquy 1.2. In the presence of the corpse of his father-in-law, Henry VI (whom Richard himself killed, as well as her husband), Richard proposes to Lady Anne. It's a testament to his cunning that he's able to win her over; he convinced her that he had killed Henry VI and Edward out of love for her, and that he was truly repentant. It is through this deception that Lady Anne is able to overlook Richard's transgressions, as well as her own suspicions about his honesty. After she leaves, Richard expresses his true feelings, reminding us exactly who he is. In this speech, Richard creates thematic oppositions: beauty versus ugliness, good versus evil, and love versus hate. What is hateful, angry, evil and disfigured he associates with himself. On the contrary, beauty, gentleness, courage and beauty are associated with Edward. The comparison between the two men is made explicit: "And yet she still lowers her eyes on me / Who cut off this sweet prince's golden youth / And made her a widow in a painful bed? / On me, the Whose everything doesn't equal Edward's half / On me, this stops and I'm so deformed?” From the beginning of the play up to this point, Richard has sided exclusively with the side of ugliness. At the end of this passage, however, there is a rift. Richard considers a different vision of himself, a vision of beauty. This is crucial to Richard's character development. He says, “My dukedom to a denying beggar / All this time I have confused my person / About my life she discovers, though I cannot / Myself be a wonderful and correct man.” This introduces a duality into Richard's self... the center of the paper... is a reference to self-perception. Antony, similar to Richard and Othello, are aligned with undesirable qualities, as with the words "Detest my baseness." Once again it is simple perception, taken literally, that drives desire, in this case towards a destructive end. Antonio, Desdemona and Lady Anne have all chosen their fate based on subtle (or thinly disguised) images proposed by the objects of their desire. Simple ideas are quickly converted into life-changing actions: in these plays, marriage and suicide. Furthermore, Richard, Othello, and Antony's self-conceptions act as mirrors, whose reflective images in turn influence their desires. A cycle is set in motion, the final outcome of which is the loss of self. Taken this way, these passages comment on the ease of influencing people and the chaotic potential within the human psyche. Works Citedrichard iii