The problem of evil is described by the scholastic philosophers of the Middle Ages, mainly Decartes, Spinoza, Malebranche and Leibniz. The primary development of philosophical thought on the topic of evil was mainly represented with Leibniz's starting point, 'evil was a privation of good'. In his “traditional theory of privation,” Leibniz states that “evils are absences or lacks of appropriate perfections, perfections that things should have.” The question then arises: Is God incapable of preventing evil? And since he is omnipresent, then he is not willing to do it? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay But God is benevolent and omnipresent and yet evil exists. Leibniz responds to this with his theory of “theodicy”. In the case of Leibniz's "theodicy" (derived from the Greek theos, "God", and dike, "justice"), he states that a true theodicy must consist of a set of propositions, not only hypothetical but actually true, capable of show the ultimate consistent truth of the existence of God and evil without sacrificing God's attributes as classically defined. Thus, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the problem of theodicy was not a simple puzzle of "cosmic dualism", but was rather a problem of immense social significance. Shakespeare's portrait of Richard III in his 1593 historical play of the same name is a quintessential representation of the intense exploration of the psychology of evil. Richard III attracted great interest during and after Shakespeare's lifetime. Shakespeare chose Thomas More's History of Richard III as his main source, but chose to highlight and embellish many details. On the other hand, More's version relied on Polydor Vergil's for information, while at the same time focusing on propagating the portrayal of Richard as an evil villain, giving credence to what historians call the "Tudor myth". The Tudor dynasty was founded when Henry, Earl of Richmond, defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Henry took the throne as Henry VII and was the grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I. Having won the throne in battle, it was essential to ignore the claims older. Thus Richard III, the last Yorkist king, was depicted in the most terrible light possible. So the description of Richard as deformed, born with teeth, etc. is highly unlikely and does not appear from any analysis of existing portraits of Richard. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Shakespeare's portrait of King Richard the Third sheds ample light on the king, not only as a political ruler, but also on his psychological portrayal. The play is based on the physical deformity of King Richard III and this links it closely to the allusions to Machiavellian rules. Works Cited Author Surname, Name. Title of the book referred to. City Name: Publisher Name, Year. Media type (e.g. Print). Last Name, First Name, First Name. "Article title". Title of the magazine (year): pages from - to. Press.