Richard offers a pretext for his villainy by pointing out his physical deformity. He says that since he was not made to be a lover, he has no use for peace and will happily destroy peace with his crimes. Despite his evilness, Richard is a charismatic and fascinating figure that, for much of the play, the audience is likely to sympathise with him, or at least to be impressed with him and his sharp mind. In this way, the audiences' relationship with Richard mimics the other characters' relationships with him, conveying a powerful sense of the force of his personality and his manipulative power. His victims are complicit in their own destruction. Just as Anne allows herself to be seduced by Richard, knowing that he is evil and killed her husband, other characters allow themselves to be taken in by his charisma and overlook his dishonesty and violent behavior. .
Richard outlines his plots and confesses all his evil thoughts to the audience through soliloquies. Shakespeare uses these to control the audience's impression of Richard, enabling him to work his deceptive charms on the audience. It becomes apparent, however, that Richard uses his deformity as a tool to gain the sympathy of others, including the audiences'. Richard's evil is a much more innate part of his character than simple bitterness about his deformities. Even though the audience is likely to be repulsed by Richard's actions, his revealing soliloquies cause most to like him and even hope that he will succeed despite his obvious malice.
Language for Richard is a crucial weapon. His brilliant wordplay enables him to manipulate, confuse, and control those around him. Richard's skill with language and argument is what enables him to woo Lady Anne, have Clarence thrown in prison, blame Edward for Clarence's death, and achieve Hastings's execution, all at very little risk to himself. Language also seems to be the only defense against Richard, as is shown when the Princes match his skill at wordplay and thus indicate their ability to see through his schemes.