깨어진 환상: 리처드(Richard)의 극 만들기

This study focuses on the concept of the play-within-a-play in Richard III. Shakespeare uses this dramatic style to separate reality from illusion. He creates a play-within-a-play in several of his plays in order to emphasize his intentions: to confuse reality with illusion and to simultaneously draw the distinction between them. In the process of creating the play-within-a-play, the audiences and actors are divided. In Richard III, Richard functions as an actor by playing a variety of roles in his quest to become king. He plays these roles in response to each situation, transforming into “the loving brother,” “the loyal friend,” “the witty lover,” “the loyal subject,” “the good protector,” “the reluctant prince,” and “the bluff soldier” in different scenes. His actions illustrate a villain’s plans and a pretentious player’s acting, but his choices and his will are his own. While Richard plays the role of an actor in the play-within-a-play, his counterparts—including Clarence, Anne, Buckingham, King Edward, Hastings, and Richard’s nephews—are set up as audiences who watch Richard’s plays. He acts some of the roles that he imagines and manipulates reality in front of his audience, intriguing them with his actions and ultimately sacrificing them in order to acquire power. Furthermore, Richard fixates his energy on becoming king, pretending to demonstrate humility in the face of power. He uses the play within the play as an illusion through which to become the king he wishes to be. Finally, his illusion is realized and his throne becomes real. However, that same illusion is later broken because of another illusion: the ghosts in his dream. They play the role of mirrors, reflecting Richard back to himself. The ghost scene juxtaposes Richard and his rival Richmond, making Richard come to grips with himself, as well as representing the past and the present, and predicting the future. After watching the ghost scene—which is its own play-within-a-play—Richard faces up to reality and disentangles that reality from his illusions, fully recognizing the reality of himself. Therefore, the ghost scene is a kind of the play-within-a-play created when Richard examines his life. He therefore plays the role of audience as well as actor. KCI Citation Count: 2