Frankie Rose

Shakespeares Villains
10/18/2015
Adam Hooks

Midterm Exam
Describe and explain one specific connection between
Richard III and Romeo and Juliet
Dreams play an oft ignored yet important role in both Richard III and Romeo
and Juliet. The first time the word dreams is spoken in Richard III is in Richards
opening soliloquy, in which Richard lays out his first dastardly plans to get closer to
the crown:
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the King
In deadly hate, the one against the other (1.1.32-35).
From the first speech the play, Richard tells us about how he uses dreams to further
his plots. Subsequently, the audience can conclude that Richard values his dreams
and what they mean to him. This notion will be contradicted later in the play.
Similarly, in Romeo and Juliet, the second time a dream is mentioned is just
before Mercutios Queen Mab speech. In this exchange, Romeo tells Mercutio that
he has had a dream. Mercutio responds saying that he too has had a dream
Romeo asks what Mercutios dream was to which Mercutio says that dreamers
often lie enabling Romeo to quip in response In bed asleep while they do dream
things true (1.4.48-50). This line is comedic on the surface Shakespeare is
utilizing the pun in the word lie which can mean to have sexual intercourse or
to speak falsely (OED, 1f, 1a). While this is silly, this interchange has deeper
implication. Romeos punning response, while funny, does clue the audience into
the fact that Romeo seems to believe that dreams are important otherwise, he
wouldnt dismiss Mercutios idea (dreamers often lie) so quickly and bluntly.
Through the course of the two plays, Richard III and Romeo both seem to
change their minds about the meaning of dreams. Near the end of Richard III,
Richard has a nightmare that keeps him up the night before the big battle. In the
nightmare, Richard is visited by several ghosts that declare how horribly he will do
at the battle the next day. He awakes suddenly from the nightmare and declares:
Give me another horse! Bind up my wounds!
Have mercy, Jesu. Soft, I did but dream.
O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh (5.3.177-181).
This contrasts with his opening speech in that he tries to pass off this dream as a
fluke, something not to worry about even though he is clearly nervous the lines
indicate that he is sweating and shaking profusely. This is interesting because
physically, Richards body seems to believe the dire message given by the

nightmares and yet, his mind refuses to believe them anymore. Compare this to
Romeos speech near the end of Romeo and Juliet in act five:
If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep,
My dreams presage some joyful news at hand.
My bosoms lord sits lightly in his throne,
And all this day an unaccustomed spirit
Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thougths.
I dreamt my lady came and found me dead
Strange dream that gives a dead man leave to think!
And breathed such life with kisses in my lips
That I revived and was an emperor (5.1.1-9)
While Romeo doesnt quite completely deny his belief in dreams he does add a
qualifying word to his idea if. This is important because it indicates that Romeo
doesnt fully trust his dreams as he did near the beginning of the play he is slightly
doubting their truth. Just like Richard tries to doubt his dreams even when his body
refuses to let him.

Explain how either Romeo or Richard III (or both) define or

disrupt our idea of villainy.
Richard III as a character exemplifies the stereotypical villain a person would
expect. This is evident from the very beginning of the play. First, he is deformed
this paints the picture of the stereotypical ugly villain. We know he is deformed
because he tells us so
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamped, and want loves majesty (1.1.14-16)
To contribute to the stereotype, Richard even goes so far as to tell us that
since I cannot prove a lover I am determined to prove a villain (1.28-30). Even
Richard knows hes a villain. Then, of course, he seduces Lady Anne after murdering
her family, then has her killed. He murders children, men, and finally ascends to the
throne at the pinnacle of his power. Like a true villain, he is killed at the end of the
play, ending the war of the roses.
Romeo, on the other hand, does not outwardly exemplify what a person
would consider to be a villain, and yet Juliet and him both tragically die at the end of
the play because of Romeos actions. In a way, this disrupts our idea of villainy
because Romeo does not mean to do the horribly stupid things he does, and yet
they have major negative effects on the characters in the play. For one, he begins
the play enamored with Rosalind he spends a good amount of lines telling the
audience and Benvolio how much in love with her he. Less than two scenes later, he
is star struck by Juliet. His wishy-washy personality in this situation is what sparks
the events that lead to Juliets death.

Explain something you learned about Romeo and Juliet.

This time through reading Romeo and Juliet, I learned much more about Friar
Lawrence. Before this class, I had not thought much about him I thought at best
he was a vehicle to further the Romeo and Juliet plotline I did not think that he was
a character just as diverse and quirky as the rest of the characters in the play.
Essentially, the marriage that Friar Lawrence initiates between our starcrossed lovers symbolizes a possible union of the two warring families. To Friar
Lawrence, this is important. He truly just wants there to be peace in Verona and he
tries to go about this in the best and only way he can by marrying Romeo and
Juliet. At the end of the second scene of act 2, Friar Lawrence speaks positively on
Romeos love interest:
Oh she knew well
Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell.
But come, young waverer, come, go with me;
In one respect Ill thy assistant be:
For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households rancor to pure love (2.2.88-92).
Here, it is clear that Friar Lawrence simply does not believe that the marriage will
have ill repercussions. He only wishes to help the two families join and stop fighting.

I am I
With regards to my participation and performance in the class so far, I believe
I have done an adequate job. I believe I can do a better job the second half of
semester. There were times in class when I felt that I wanted to contribute, but did
not want to sound irrelevant or off topic since everyones contributions to the class
always seem well thought out and complex and meaningful and a lot of the time my
thoughts to do not, so I often dont speak them. I will try to kill this instinct in the
following classes. The most useful aspects of the class have been the discussions
that we share in the classroom. I would never think of all the different ways do
interpret or analyze that come up in each of our sessions. Moving forward, I think I
might like a little more guidance on writing about Shakepseare from you or our
writing fellows.