The Concept of Being Evil

Today, we are constantly affected by evil like criminality, sickness and so on, which all leads to a general lack of trust in everyone and everything. To define and categorize the different extents of evil, there are two concepts: natural and moral evils. Natural evils like natural disasters or cancer are forcing us to live with the fact that it is out of our hands and there is nothing we can do to conquer it. Moral evils are different both in what kind of actions and also in how we are looking at the responsible persons. These actions are for instance murder and other types of criminality where you have defied what is ethically correct. A lot of people are under the impression that it is only bad and evil persons, who commit evil actions meaning they do not own a single likeable quality like compassion or charity. But does being the hero or, if you need to see it in a more human aspect, being a person admired for its tolerance, sympathy and humanity necessarily exclude the opportunity or more likely the risk of being evil?

We live in a world where everyone pursuits the perfect life with wealth and happiness while the way of getting it often requires a struggle that affects others negatively. We know that stress and anger easily can urge for even the happiest and most sympathetic man alive. But according to what we have influenced for instance from the fairy tales of our childhood or even the real classics like Shakespeare, being evil and being likeable are two separate things, which will never be anything but conflicting poles. Richard III claims that his incapability of being able to love and be someone’s lover determines his therefore villainous behaviour. Being born before term, Richard III had to live his life as a cripple and therefore an outcast. This was not a thing to easily let go in the Middle Ages as people was condescending towards people who had working barriers and you were seen at as incompetent. Even as Richard was the son of the Duke of York it made no difference. It corroded Richard’s self-esteem and made him think that no one would ever love him. Furthermore, he made himself believe that he would never be able to be someone’s lover as he was physically not capable of it: “And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, to entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain”. According to this quote, Richard claims that since he cannot be a lover, he must become a villain as it is the only way to make him feel better and to make up for all the spiteful treatment he has suffered from and been through. But is becoming evil the only way out when you have been denied happiness by others? Is it even possible to reach success and happiness by executing evilness and your only thing to do is conquer everybody else?

In Shakespeare’s play, Richard III became the epitome of villainy. Therefore, his character is quite exaggerated when discussing the boundary line between being a hero or a villain on a human level. The same boundary line between good and bad is fair to say only common in literature as it is only natural as a human to have the ability of loving and giving love even though you have done things in your past that would mark you as evil. It does not necessarily characterise you as a villain, who is more likely seen as a stereotype in literature because of its carrying evil personality. Further, the villain plays a big and very important part in literature, as every story needs the excitement that the contrast between the protagonist and the antagonist makes. The conflict between the hero and the villain build the conflict of the story and therefore, the two becomes dichotomies.

Although, this does not signify that they cannot differ from the definition. It is seen in literature that the villainous character has romantic feelings for the heroic one. In such case, the villain has been provided with heroic characterization in spite of the otherwise evil personality. Often in these cases, the villain protects the hero and will not let anything get to harm him or her, which otherwise is a sign of weakness in a villain’s world.
In the light of this discussion, it is clear that the dichotomy between being a hero or a villain does not apply in our real world, as it is a whole other mind set than in literature that obtain for the human way of thinking. The human being is able to make mistakes and commit bad things without it marks you as a villain who is in no possession of any good and loving characteristics. In literature, there are no boundaries and only your imagination will draw the lines. The only thing that matters in literature is making the story interesting and as mentioned, it is the significant boundary line between the hero and the villain that builds up the excitement. When Shakespeare has made Richard III announcing his need to become a villain because of his lack of love, it is exaggerated for the sake of the play. In real life, he would have weak spots that would characterise him as a good man because this is in our nature. Therefore, the sharp line between good and bad only applies in literature and there are even varied purposes. Ergo, being evil in all your actions is not possible, as your natural need for love will appear sooner or later.