Winter of our discontent Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

The Phantom of the Opera. Darth Vader. Voldemort. Captain Hook. Dr. Evil.

What do all of these have in common? They are all super villains who are physically flawed in some way. And they all were inspired by Richard III. We might even say they were all inspired by this speech specifically.

This creepy guy really, really, wants to be king, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get his hands on the crown. He doesn't really have a motive. He just wants to be evil. Or as he puts it, he's "determined to prove villain."

Which raises a key question: is there such a thing as real, pure evil in the world? And while we're at it, is there such a thing as true good? Or are we all floating around in a grey mixture of both?

Sure, Richard is one seriously twisted dude. But we wonder how much of the nature-versus-nurture argument plays into our understanding of evil. This speech gets at all of these questions, because it's the first time Richard (or anyone for that matter) speaks to us in this play. And in true Machiavellian fashion, he reveals his motives to us, just like that.

So, should we take him at his word? Is he really just "determined to prove villain"? Is now the winter of his discontent, and all seasons will be that way for him?

You might not care about Richard III, but we bet you've seen at least one of the movie villains that we mentioned before. And the thing is, Richard III doesn't care if you believe him. He'll be a villain to you anyway.