“And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures of these days.”
This quote is spoken in Richard's several-page monologue at the very beginning of the play. Because he is deformed and ugly, he believes he will never enjoy his own life as long as anyone else is happy, so he is determined to ruin everyone else's lives. He hates the peace and happiness that the people are currently enjoying because he cannot have them himself. Richard has land, wealth (well, at least I would assume he has a lot of money since he is a duke) and one brother who really cares about him, so it isn't as though he has nothing good at all in his life, but he willingly and knowingly becomes evil rather than trying to make the best of what he has been given, because there are other people who have more than he does. This play is an example of how being unhappy can cause a person to become cruel and resentful to those who they feel are "lucky" and have had better lives than they have had. Many antagonists in stories have come from miserable situations (such as Voldemort, who had a pretty unhappy childhood as an orphan and whose hatred of Muggles stems from his original hatred of his father who abandoned him).
Book: King Richard III by William Shakespeare
Quote:
“And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.”
This quote is spoken in Richard's several-page monologue at the very beginning of the play. Because he is deformed and ugly, he believes he will never enjoy his own life as long as anyone else is happy, so he is determined to ruin everyone else's lives. He hates the peace and happiness that the people are currently enjoying because he cannot have them himself.
Richard has land, wealth (well, at least I would assume he has a lot of money since he is a duke) and one brother who really cares about him, so it isn't as though he has nothing good at all in his life, but he willingly and knowingly becomes evil rather than trying to make the best of what he has been given, because there are other people who have more than he does.
This play is an example of how being unhappy can cause a person to become cruel and resentful to those who they feel are "lucky" and have had better lives than they have had. Many antagonists in stories have come from miserable situations (such as Voldemort, who had a pretty unhappy childhood as an orphan and whose hatred of Muggles stems from his original hatred of his father who abandoned him).