Which lines in this excerpt from Shakespeare’s Richard III provide evidence for the theme of good versus evil in the play? And a
ll the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front; And now, instead of mounting barded steeds To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion, Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time I am determined to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
The lines that imply the theme of good versus evil are
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
The two lines above are evidence for the theme of good versus evil. Now, even though there is no blatant comparison of evil to good, we must keep in mind that the presence of one will always imply the presence of the other, and this is done by the notion that something is only evil if compared to something understood to be good. As such, because the idea of a villain is present, that tells us that there must be the idea of a hero present. Additionally, because the word “hate” is mentioned (which is a characteristic of evil), this implies the existence of love (which is a characteristic of good).
