Many critics and theorists have studied William Shakespeare's “Richard III” in an attempt to explain the external and internal discrepancy of character and physical appearance. Richard III is able to deceive those around him based on these inconsistencies and thus has aroused interest in the academic community. Some more recent critics have argued that Richard's success derives primarily from his conformity to the expectations of his time through the use and manipulation of courtly manners and decorum, while other critics argue that his success derives from the sinister aesthetic present in the 'work. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The first group of critics argue that Richard's use of decorum is his most powerful weapon in his ascension to the throne. Dolores Burton, author of “Speech and Decorum in the First Act of Richard III” argues that Richard's use of speech and decorum allows him to win over his entire audience. His use of deliberate speech in his opening monologues, Burton argues, places him in the role of the classical orator whose powers of persuasion give him power over his audience. Burton's central claim is that Richard's use of ethical appeal in public speaking is the means through which he achieves his power. The elements of his speech work together to persuade the audience that the speaker is a nice person, not too complicated, respectful of his own tastes, witty and with just the right touch of self-irony. Another critic who follows this same theory is James Siemon in his work “Between the Lines: Bodies/ Language/ Times” in which he discusses the fact that historical bodies and languages ​​are always plural and yet interactive, distinguishable and linked to classes, groups and classes. professional struggles for position and advantage implying them over each other. Idiolects, group jargons, and eras do not take shape without traces of their co-formation through antagonistic intersections with each other. Likewise, postures, intonations, and even body movements imply differential categories of social definition, distinction, and taste. Furthermore, bodies and languages ​​are integrated with each other and therefore are an integral part of Shakespeare's Richard III story. In contrast to this opinion, some critics argue that Shakespeare's use of "sinister aesthetics" in the play is the primary explanation for Richard's rise to power. . Joel Slotkin's "Honeyed Toads: Sinister Aesthetics in Shakespeare's Richard III" argues that Richard is a figure who violates moral and aesthetic norms by triumphantly asserting his malevolence and taking narcissistic pride in his ugliness. Slotkin analyzes Richard's problematic appeal by focusing on the work's use of "sinister aesthetics": in other words, a set of cultural conventions that govern the representation of evil, that valorize the dark and hideous as admirable poetic subjects and, by association, risk encouraging the very values ​​they label as evil. He argues that the work affirms a poetics in which Richard is attractive and powerful because he is evil but also because he is ugly. Slotkin's analytical approach to explaining Richard's success allows the reader to appreciate the full range of moral and aesthetic appeals available to Shakespeare and his audience. Furthermore, Hugh Richmond in his collection of essays “Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Richard III” supports the idea that sinister aesthetics played a primary role in Richard's violent accession to the throne. The success of Richard III cannot simply be attributed to one of thesestatements, but it is necessary to analyze elements of both these points of view to fully grasp the idea of ​​the internal and external man. What made him a powerful force in his time was how Richard was able to manipulate his outward appearance to gain power while still following the compulsions of his inner self. Richard's success in creating a respectable persona for himself stems largely from his ability to conform to people's expectations and their sense of decorum. Dolores Burton argues that Richard's success is due to his "mastery of all forms of persuasive speech recognized by classical rhetoric: deliberative, forensic, and epideictic" (Burton 55). Up to a point, this theory is true. Richard uses his past to give himself an air of respectability, so the audience will believe what he is trying to communicate to them. Proving himself to be a good and loyal soldier, Richard becomes a sympathetic character because, once the war is over, his options for his future are limited. “With the technique of evasion, [Richard] neglects any consideration of appropriate roles as counselor and statesman to argue that in Edward's court the only option available to him is that of mistress” (Burton 57). Richard immediately dismisses this option as ridiculous due to his deformed appearance and shows the audience that the only truly viable option is for him to become a villain. Richard is able to captivate the audience and earn their trust through his use of rhetoric. His speech at the beginning of the first act shows his mastery of the language. The words used in Richard's speech mirror the dialects spoken by ordinary people, the only words used that contain even more syllables are "victorious", "unfashionable", and "deformity". Richard's logical description of his intentions and reasons motivating his current actions conveys a sense of inevitability to his audience. The audience, as the outcome is presented as inevitable, accepts Richard's course of action and sees him as a man of honor for communicating his intentions in a forthright and honest manner. Richard also uses sweetness in his speech, according to Burton. “Sweetness, an attempt at sense gratification, appears chiefly in the passages describing the winter of war yielding to the summer of peace and in the verses describing the orderly marches of war changing into the more pleasant... measures of dance” (Burtone 61). This sweetness connects Richard to his readers through shared experience. He describes the seasons, which everyone has experienced as having a dance-like pattern, something that the audience likes. “Now is the winter of our discontent/ Made glorious summer by this son of York;/… Our severe alarms are turned into gay encounters,/ Our terrible marches into delightful measures” (Shakespeare 1-2, 7-8 ). This appeal to the senses produces sweet memories in his audience as they recall their experiences and connect Richard's words with their emotions. By making this connection, the audience is more willing to take what Richard is saying at face value and less likely to question his motives. Richard also appeals to the ethics of his audience in his opening speech by aligning himself with them. “Modesty, [which] characterizes the ethical style [of speaking] addresses the speaker's need to ingratiate himself with the audience… Diminishing oneself and aggrandizing another is another modesty technique” (Burton 61). Richard, in his self-deprecating speech, refers to himself as "warped, unfinished, sent before my time / Into this pulsating world just half-invented--- / and so dull and old-fashioned / That the dogs bark at me, while I stand beside them—” (Shakespeare 20-23).criticism of himself makes the audience feel sorry for him. After all, they reason, poor Richard cannot be held responsible for his outward appearance, only God has control over a man's appearance. The audience believes Richard and feels sympathy for him because they believe there is a discrepancy between his ugly exterior and his heart. This concept of internal and external disconnection is unique to William Shakespeare during this time period. The aristocratic ideal is that a person's exterior is an accurate representation of their internal condition. All epic poems before this period, such as Beowulf and The Odyssey, show a hero who possesses a body as attractive as a heart. There is no conflict between the inner man and the outer man before Shakespeare examines the matter. Joel Slotkin states that Richard deals with this disconnection between the inner man and the outer man and the resulting lure of evil in two main ways. “The character of Riccardo symbolizes in a paradoxical form the Renaissance debates on the epistemological value for determining moral truths. In his deformity, which the other characters interpret as a sign of his infernal nature, Richard embodies the union of external appearance and internal truths” (Slotkin 6). Shakespeare uses it to ask the reader what one should do when encountering a character, like Richard, whose internal and external image do not match. The idea of ​​conscience is created where people can create their own definition of what is right and what is wrong. This is exactly what Richard does, he uses his ugly external condition to hide his equally horrible heart. Richard clearly states his intentions: “Descant upon my deformity / And therefore, as I cannot prove myself a lover / To entertain these fair and well-spoken days, / I am determined to prove myself a villain” (Shakespeare 127-129). Conscience, up to this point, made a man weak in the eyes of Richard III, incapable of doing what was necessary to succeed in life. Conscience was a representation of the law of God and the law of man; however, by redefining conscience, Richard places himself outside the law and therefore free to pursue whatever course of action he deems appropriate. Aesthetics plays an important role in Richard's success as it serves to redefine what is attractive. Aesthetics is that branch of philosophy that deals with the idea of ​​what is beautiful and what is ugly. They help establish the meaning and validity of critical judgments regarding the principles underlying or justifying the text and how audiences respond to it. Slotkin writes:Richard combines two important sets of sinister conventions; a poetics of malevolent theatricality and a poetics of deformity. The work uses these conventions to address the contradictory theories about the relationship between aesthetics and ethics that plagued Renaissance theorists... Richard seduces most of his victims, not with a successful deception... rather with a skillful but transparent gesture of deception. The “appealing devices” allow the characters a complex and conscious engagement with Richard. (Slotkin 7). Richard is the centerpiece of the “deformity” aesthetic and becomes less ugly in the eyes of the other characters as he tricks them into thinking he has good intentions. Slotkin argues that Richard's "sinister aesthetic" is his means of success. “To adequately understand how evil can [be attractive] we must take into account the aesthetic conventions that govern representations of evil. These conventions…do not simply appropriate pleasant representational techniques to represent beauty and virtue, nor do they violate such conventions simply to disgust readers with ugliness.". 7. 1, 5-32.