Richard III - Conscience

[nubs]

Just wondering what you guys thought on the issue of Richard and whether or not he has a conscience, and why you believe he does or doesn't have one.

I'm not entirely sure, but I'm leaning towards the notion that he doesn't really have one.

[Anon123]

He does, we all do, however he is "determined to prove a villain", and hence he tends to ignore his conscience, or another approach could be that his ambition overrides his conscience.

I think that with either of these approaches you could have a better discussion about the idea, but these are just my thoughts [note that I am horrible at English, and this is just my opinion]

[nubs]

Not everyone has a conscience. There are people who have a sense of right and wrong, yet they are not bothered by doing wrong.

But I have now gone back to thinking he does have a conscience. I've changed my mind so many times today it's ridiculous.

[Liuy]

Richard certainly exhibits true villainy for much of the play and it seems his conscience is non-existent to provide a check upon his actions.
However this total disregard of conscience ("conscience is a word that cowards use") is one of the reasons for his downfall as it comes back to haunt him during Act 5 Scene 3. 

I do agreed that Richard's determinism, thirst for power and urge to enact evil upon society basically absorbs his conscience, however I do see some semblance of a conflicted man towards the end of the play.

[nubs]

Yeah certainly by the end of the play we see a different Richard. He seems to be all over the place when he's giving orders and loses much of his charm. Especially when he shouts 'a kingdom for a horse', it just shows sheer desperation and the kind of charm that he once had is lost.

Richard says he does have a conscience in his reaction to his dream. Would it be fair to say that Richard had been suppressing his conscience up until then because he sees it as cowardly, or as an obstacle, 'Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe'.  'Kindness freezes'

In regards to the reaction to his dream, he quickly dismisses the conscience aspect of it and seems to be more concerned with holding onto power. Would it be fair to say that he does this because his ambition overshadows his conscience, or because he doesn't have a conscience at all?

My only problem is that a conscience is a sense of right and wrong, the distinction of which impels one to do right rather than wrong. Even though Richard has a sense of right and wrong, it doesn't seem he is ever encouraged or compelled to do right. He also says stuff like 'tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye' and many of his actions don't indicate that he does have a conscience.
Even though his reaction to the dream talks about conscience for a while, it never indicates that he feels guilty or remorseful, or that he is in anyway encouraged to do good, which in a way indicates he does not have a conscience.

Also, the dream itself seems as if it is brought on by something supernatural instead of Richard's conscience, as Richmond has the same dream.

[Jdog]

I guess one could say that Richard is dismissive and misanthropic of affirmative social and moral paradigms. But the question of does he have a conscience is a more nuanced one. When I was reading the play I felt the murderers in the scene of Clarence's murder were representative of Richard's psychomachia; you get one murderer questioning the other and they assume different roles as the scene progresses. I don't think it is easy to say he doesn't have a conscience, more that he has constructed his own world of villainy and destruction that almost tears chunks away from his humanity. I guess what shakespeare might be trying to tell us, is that by trying to "supress" (as someone already said) you turn into the "diffused infection of a man" that is Richard.

[EvangelionZeta]

I'll just post a short answer question I responded to in year 12...

30. Analyse Richard’s soliloquy.  How does he use language?  How has Richard changed in this speech, and why?

Richard’s soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 3 essentially encapsulates the evolution of his character, alerting to the audience his frame of mind as the play reaches its denouement. 
First and foremost, Richard’s soliloquy indicates the inner conflict he is experiencing prior to his final battle.  The exclamation of “O coward conscience” is essentially emblematic of Richard’s primary struggle; following his murders, he is torn but the guilt he is experiencing, with lines such as “Alas, I rather hate myself for hateful deeds committed by myself” expressing an inability to continue his previous decision to “prove a villain”.  Indeed, Richard’s falling back on his previous words is directly expressed, with the line “I am a villain! – yet I lie, I am not” suggesting the role is now something Richard cannot uphold.  The internal conflict of Richard is also signified within the fractured nature of his dialogue, with lines such as “I love myself…Alas, I rather hate myself” “No! – yes, I am” signifying to the audience that Richard is arguing with himself.  Shakespeare is hence constructing the very image of a disjointed and incoherent identity, unable to maintain its values in the face of its previous immorality. 

Beyond this, the words expressed in Richard’s soliloquy also allow the audience to see Richard’s self-condemnation.  As a result of his identity falling apart, Richard’s language expresses to the audience a sense of personal hatred; lines such as “My conscience hath a thousand several tongues/And every tongue brings in a several tale/And every tale condemns me for a villain” suggest an unrelenting self hatred, unable to accept the mess of villainy which Richard has fallen into.  Richard’s invocation of legal terminology, such as “Murder, stern murder, in the dir’st degree!” furthermore forms the image of Richard as a criminal, condemned by the world’s justice for the evil nature of his actions.  Finally, cries of “if I die no soul will pity me” relate to the audience Richard’s lack of support within the rule of his Kingdom; at the cusp of his defeat, Richard’s words echo the curses of Margaret and the Duchess, and what Shakespeare is establishing thus is that at the zenith of villainy comes the nadir of isolation, the final tragedy which precedes the denouement of Richard III.

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Basically, yes he does have a conscience, it's just hidden and supressed, and doesn't come into play at all until in act 5.  I would also agree somewhat with JDog's reading: basically, Richard's ultimate destruction (and the manner in which his guilt tears him apart) seems to present conscience as a necessary force for humanity, and that ignorance of it, as seen in the case of Richard, can only be detrimental.