A Note on Perversion

‘Desire is a defense, a defense against going beyond a limit in jouissance.’ The

pervert refuses to give up his pleasure when faced with the Other. Perversion is a
result of a partial failure of the paternal metaphor and attempts to make the Other
pronounce the law. It could be speculated that Richard is similar to a perverse
subject in that he recognises the law but chooses to exclude himself from it. He
splits himself from reality and remains in the pleasure principle. The pervert puts
himself in the position of the object to fill the lack in the Other. Richard tries
to become king to fill the king-shaped hole in his mOther’s desire. However, the
difference between Richard-the-pervert and Richard-the-neurotic lies here. The
perverse subject never completes his journey into the symbolic. He wishes to remain
as his mOther’s object, someone she dotes on and adores, rather than someone of
whose name she can be proud. Richard’s name is very important to him. He uses the
name he shares with his father and the deceased to woo Lady Anne: ‘Plantagenet.’ He
uses his name as a source of identity. ‘Richard loves Richard.’ It is when his
mother curses his name that he begins his downward spiral. The line is pretty fine
in making this diagnosis of neurosis over perversion and I think one of the reasons
for this is the creation of a psychopathic character by Richard. There is no
official Lacanian structure for what is deemed as psychopathy. My research has led
me to position the psychopath in close relation to the structure of perversion.
Richard’s true self is driven not by the object but by desire. ‘Desire is a product
of language and cannot be satisfied with an object. The naming of the mOther’s
desire forces the child out of his position as object and propels him into the
quest for the elusive key to her desire.’[97]

Language

Another area that provides evidence of Richard’s neurosis is his use of language.
‘The neurotic symptom plays the role of the language [langue] in which repression
can be expressed.’[98] Richard’s deformed body is a representation of how his
mother viewed his premature form at birth. Lacan says that ‘the medium symptoms
adopt is a body written with language, a body overwritten with signifiers.’[99]
Richard creates a character who, as he accomplishes his goals, overwrites his
deformed features with signifiers he has created for his character, allowing his
deformities to be dressed in such a way that they no longer cause him to look
withered and disabled, but instead, regal and powerful. ‘To study fashions to adorn
my body.’[100] It is only after he sheds this character in Act V that he is faced
with his original form (‘bind up my wounds’)[101] and his true signifiers.

In order to be recognised desire must be spoken. ‘It is only once it is formulated,

named in the presence of the other, that desire, whatever it is, is recognised in
the full sense of the term.’[102] Richard uses the audience to articulate his
conscious desires. But as Fink points out, ‘there is a limit to how far desire can
be articulated in speech because of a fundamental incompatibility between desire
and speech.’[103] We can see evidence of this in Richard whose speech begins to
fail, as he gets closer to this desire.
The character of Richard is known for his exceptional wit and skill over language.
He uses it as a tool throughout the play. It is through language that he plants all
his seeds and achieves all his goals. Richard plays the part of someone who is non-
rhetorical. He fools those closest to him with his ‘sincere’ words. Even though he
has planted the letter G[104] as a name to be feared by the king, leading to
Clarence’s imprisonment, Clarence still defends his honour by refusing to believe
his murderers were sent by Richard: ‘O, do not slander him, for he is kind.’[105]
He also fools his good friend, Hastings who says of Richard:

…there’s never a man in Christendom

Can lesser hide his love or hate than he

For by his face straight shall you know his heart.[106]

Richard’s rhetorical skills, however, are at their most ingenious when wooing Lady
Anne. He wins her over with the greatest of ease, using only his words. This scene
takes place at the beginning of the play when Richard’s desire is bursting at the
seams. When we look at the wooing scene between Richard and Lady Anne, we can note
some interesting occurrences in the text. Lady Anne and Richard appear to be locked
in a duelling of tongues.[107] They share each other’s language throughout.[108]
They finish each other’s lines in places and are constantly using the other’s
metaphor in retort.[109] This engages the listener as it is playful and can be
interpreted as a flirtatious exchange rather than a spiteful row. A later attempt
to woo Queen Elizabeth for her daughter’s hand in marriage is a less successful
affair. ‘These two speeches mark the poles of Richard’s height and decline, and the
poles are marked by successful or unsuccessful rhetoric.’[110] It is this use of
language by his mother against him that sets in motion his gradual downfall. ‘The
most telling sign of disorder is the collapse of language, the failure of Richard’s
rhetorical strategies.’[111]

We find further evidence of the flirtatious nature of this encounter when we

compare it to scenes from Shakespeare’s later plays. In Romeo and Juliet we can see
similar traits within the wooing scene. Romeo and Juliet share an extended
metaphor; their line endings rhyme with each other and they play and flirt with
each other’s language.[112] In a less romantic, but just as tragic play, we find
another example of lovers sharing lines. In Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are
so in rhythm with each other that they don’t miss a beat.[113]

LADY MACBETH

I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.

Did not you speak?

MACBETH

When?

LADY MACBETH

Now.

MACBETH

As I descended?

Interestingly, later in this play, as the characters fall out of love, they
converse less and less.