"Since I Cannot Prove A Lover [...] I Am Determined To Prove A Villain" : The Performance of Evil in Richard III, Othello, and Titus Andronicus
Vasell, Kati (2025)
2025
Kielten maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Languages
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2025-06-09
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202506076921
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202506076921
Tiivistelmä
The greatness of a hero is often measured by the greatness of the villain. Despite their evil, the antagonists are often just as beloved by audiences as the protagonists. Through the analysis of villains, one gains a more profound knowledge of a culture’s understanding and definition of evil. The analysis also reveals contemporary controversial issues on morality that were prevalent during the time of the villains’ creation.
In this thesis I conduct a rhetorical analysis on the evil embracing performances of three well-known antagonists in Shakespeare: Richard III, Iago and Aaron. I analyze how their evil is performed to the audience through the usage of verbal rhetorical devices and supporting visual rhetoric and how these performances interact with contemporary cultural constructions of evil. I argue that these antagonists’ performances provide commentary on evil through the contemporary issues of selfhood, social status and position as well as overconsumption of violence as entertainment and sophistication.
Richard III demonstrates how societal expectations cause abnormalities and disfigurement from the commonly acceptable way to be viewed as evil, because it threatens established political and religious moral views and the notion of men and their destinies being God’s creations. Othello questions the notion of identity and suggests that perhaps selfhood is simply a manmade role chosen to better one’s life and perception amongst others while a more sinister selfhood hides within. Titus Andronicus draws attention to the upper-class’s overconsumption and hypocritical tendency to perceive themselves as sophisticated and cultured despite recreating nature’s violent hierarchies in their societies in search for a sense of divinity and mastery.
The antagonists’ performances provide a countering narrative and question the mainstream contemporary view on controversial topics. Overall, the message of the plays is that ideas that were seen as too revolutionary at the time were often branded as evil to avoid discussing them.
In this thesis I conduct a rhetorical analysis on the evil embracing performances of three well-known antagonists in Shakespeare: Richard III, Iago and Aaron. I analyze how their evil is performed to the audience through the usage of verbal rhetorical devices and supporting visual rhetoric and how these performances interact with contemporary cultural constructions of evil. I argue that these antagonists’ performances provide commentary on evil through the contemporary issues of selfhood, social status and position as well as overconsumption of violence as entertainment and sophistication.
Richard III demonstrates how societal expectations cause abnormalities and disfigurement from the commonly acceptable way to be viewed as evil, because it threatens established political and religious moral views and the notion of men and their destinies being God’s creations. Othello questions the notion of identity and suggests that perhaps selfhood is simply a manmade role chosen to better one’s life and perception amongst others while a more sinister selfhood hides within. Titus Andronicus draws attention to the upper-class’s overconsumption and hypocritical tendency to perceive themselves as sophisticated and cultured despite recreating nature’s violent hierarchies in their societies in search for a sense of divinity and mastery.
The antagonists’ performances provide a countering narrative and question the mainstream contemporary view on controversial topics. Overall, the message of the plays is that ideas that were seen as too revolutionary at the time were often branded as evil to avoid discussing them.