Shakespeare's Psychopaths: Edmund and Richard III

The character of Edmund in Shakespeare’s King Lear bears a striking resemblance to one of Shakespeare’s other great villains, Richard III. Both Edmund and Richard are manipulative and cunning, almost psychopathic. Both of them betray family members and friends, ruthlessly cutting their ways into the seats of power.

The parallels between Richard and Edmund begin in their first appearances onstage. Both begin with a direct address to the audience, explaining their motivations and the specifics of their plot. Richard’s infamous “Now is the winter of our discontent…” soliloquy opens the play that bears his name, whereas Edmund’s introductory soliloquy opens the second scene of Lear. There are incredible similarities in the tone and language of these introductory soliloquies. Both Richard and Edmund are deeply bitter with their station in life. Richard bemoans his deformity, so unseemly “that dogs do bark at me as I halt by them—”(Richard, Act1, Sc.1). Edmund rages against his outcast status in society, crying “Why bastard? Wherefore base?”(Lear, Act 1, Sc 2).

Both Richard and Edmund unveil their plots to gain power in their opening soliloquies. Richard famously declares “ 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”(Richard, Act 1, Sc 1). Likewise, after establishing his inability to succeed in his present condition, Edmund declares his sinister ambitions, saying “ Well then,/ Legitimate Edward, I must have your land…/ Edmund the base/shall top the legitimate: I grow, I prosper”(Lear, Act 1, Sc 2). Both Richard and Edmund seem to entirely lack concern or inner conflict about their villainy; both are morally compromised, perhaps leading to their diagnosis as psychopaths by many critics.

One interesting difference between the two is their opinion on the ever-present “nature.” Edmund is clearly a great lover of nature, declaring “ Thou, Nature, art my goddess: to thy law/ My services are bound….”(Lear, Act1, Sc2). It can also be inferred that Edmund is a physically healthy and attractive person, well endowed by nature, from his seemingly effortless seduction of the two sisters (Richard also seduces women, but in a more cunning, devious way). In stark contrast to Edmund’s devotion to nature stands Richards absolute loathing. Richard rages against Edmund’s goddess, describing himself as “cheated of feature by dissembling nature/ deformed, unfinished, sent before my time into this world scarce half made up….”(Richard, Act1, Sc1).

The exact specifications of the plots of Edmund and Richard are strikingly similar as well. Edmund incriminates his brother by planting a letter declaring him a possible rebel. Edmund then pretends to sympathize with and advise his brother before attempting to seal his fate. Richard too plants evidence against his own brother, Lord George Clarence, causing him to be imprisoned. Richard too pretends to comfort his brother before ensuring his death.

Richard and Edmund share many similarities in their motivations, tactics, and actions. They are Shakespeare’s two greatest psychopathic characters. Richard is one of Shakespeare’s earliest tragedies, and Lear is one of his latest. No doubt the writing of Richard informed the writing of the character of Edmund in Lear.