Most Elizabethans believed their self-identity was wrapped up in a cosmic paradigm of fate and destiny, and were somehow controlled by the stars and planets and had a power over the baser side of man -- tools of God, but with certain amounts of fre Continue Reading...
Universal Truth in Hamlet Hamlet Hamlet's story is different from most of the stories of revenge and betrayal in a way that throughout the novel he was not sure about a lot of things. Thus, the way the story unfolded eventually really showed that Continue Reading...
Shakespeare's Hamlet, Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy and Saxo Grammaticus's The Historia Danica have so many points of resemblance that it is hard to comprehend that these three stories were written by three separate writers. The stories of Hamlet Continue Reading...
William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton explore the depth and range of the human psyche in their plays, Hamlet and the Revenger's Tragedy. Through the characters of Hamlet and Vindici, we discover different motivations to their feelings of vengeance Continue Reading...
The Tragic Loss of HamletShakespeares Hamlet is a tragic hero, who is overwhelmed by the circumstances of his fathers death and his mothers new marriage. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark and is engaged to Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, who serves Continue Reading...
Polonius: A Literature Review As chief counselor to the king of Denmark, Polonius plays an important and nefarious role in Shakespeare’s Hamlet—yet his words are often quoted out of context and it is Polonius, the spying, lying, manipulat Continue Reading...
Scotland PA: Shakespeare ReimaginedBilly Morrissettes 2001 Scotland PA is a dark comedy adaptation of Shakespeares Tragedy of Macbeth. The film is set in small town USA in the 1970s; instead of a castle, the main stage is a diner; instead of a warrio Continue Reading...
Francis Bacon's Advancement Of Learning An Analysis of Bacon's Rationale for Writing the Advancement of Learning When one analyzes Francis Bacon's Advancement of Learning, he does so by first entering into an era that was primarily dedicated to ove Continue Reading...
Othello as a Tragic Hero Thesis: Othello fits Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero because he meets all four of the philosopher’s conditions: 1) he is great, 2) he demonstrates nobility or manly valor, 3) his character is authentic and Continue Reading...
Crucible and What I Have Learned Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a dramatic, engaging work that challenges the reader/viewer to see beneath the "black and white" dichotomy by which the world is simplistically characterized via such "venerable" inst Continue Reading...
Othello as Tragic Hero Othello, the Moor of Venice is a Shakespearean tragedy that focuses on the great war hero Othello and the lengths to which Iago goes to in order to strip Othello of his power. Iago's thirst for power commences when he is passe Continue Reading...
This intellectual error thus prevents Othello from thinking clearly about his wife after Iago has planted the idea that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him. Furthermore, "The Fall of Othello," John Arthos notes, "Othello fell into chaos before the Continue Reading...
The Oedipus complex suggests that every son wants to marry his mother and kill his father -- and that is precisely what Claudius does. "Sex and the life instincts in general are, of course, represented somewhere in Jung's system. They are a part of Continue Reading...
(Terry 1070) The play Hamlet therefore reflects this complex change in the honor code and the way that personal elements were being integrated into the traditional view of honor. The characters of Hamlet and Laertes also show this complexity in the Continue Reading...
The script eliminates one of Ophelia's major monologues, when she details to Polonius how Hamlet came to her, after seeing the ghost, when she first fears he is mad. Instead, the movie script shows this seen as action, in the real time of the play. Continue Reading...
ghosts in two literary works. The Spanish Tragedy and Hamlet each have a ghost which guides and drives the action of the story. The writer works to compare and contrast the ghosts in each story and tell how they relate to the story. There were two s Continue Reading...
Even in Catholic France, the Protestant sentiment that God's grace alone can save His fallen, human creation was evident in the humanist king, Francis I's sister, Margaret, Queen of Navarre's novel when she wrote: "We must humble ourselves, for God Continue Reading...
The inclusion of an immortal spirit as a key catalytic character in the play underscores Shakespeare's intention. Hamlet states, "For this same lord, / I do repent…I must be their scourge and minister," (Act III, Scene 4). Here, Hamlet clearly Continue Reading...
This final dinner scene and the ensuing bloodbath wrings ever last possible ounce of gory drama out of the script; the talking ceases for a time while the camera observes the members of the dinner party all enjoying the pies that contain the blood a Continue Reading...
'" "A Good Man is Hard to Find" ends with the family being executed by the Misfit, a murderous outlaw. Although O'Connor's story is evidently supposed to be humorous, it gives the reader pause to note that the family will die without ever exchanging Continue Reading...
For example, his parents feel no paternal instincts toward their son at all - his mother "fell on the floor" (Kafka 20) at the sight of and his father "covered his eyes with his hands and wept until his great chest heaved" (20). His sister also allo Continue Reading...
Human Suffering in the Works of W. Faulkner, S. Plath, T. Roethke, and W. Shakespeare Literature is considered as one of humanity's powerful medium of expression. Different forms of expression are used in literature, such as poetry, plays, novels, Continue Reading...
structure of ancient and modern dramas to highlight their differences and similarities. The paper also shows how drama evolved over the centuries with references to Greek, Elizabethan and Modern plays. MODERN AND ANCIENT DRAMA: A COMPARISON Drama Continue Reading...
Sexuality and Gender There are certain patterns in literature; themes which present themselves over and over again despite the time period in which they were written and the cultural background of the author who wrote it. One such theme is that of h Continue Reading...
) "Sonnet 130" by Shakespeare and "Sonnet 23" by Louis Labe both talk about love, as so many sonnets do. Their respective techniques however, differentiate them from each other. Shakespeare uses a rhyme scheme that became known as Shakespearean rhym Continue Reading...
Weave of Hatred in Othello The first sign of hatred in Othello is made by Roderigo who says to Iago of the Moor, "Thou toldst me thou didst hold him in thy hate" (1.1.7), though there is never a substantial reason given -- merely excuses (he was pa Continue Reading...
Tragic Hero begins with an examination of Oedipus Rex. But, while he is the archetype of this particular literary character, Hamlet is, perhaps, the most well developed and psychologically complex of tragic heroes. For the Greeks, all things in life Continue Reading...
Willlam Hazlitt largely comments on the contemporariness and universality of Hamlet's character: that although Shakespeare wrote the play more than 500 years ago, we have come to know the character of the tragic Prince quite well. Not only because we Continue Reading...
Supernatural in Renaissance Drama There are things in heaven and earth, not dreamt of in the philosophy of Horatio, not simply in "Hamlet" but also in the "Midsummer's Night Dream" of Shakespeare, and the "Dr. Faustus" of Christopher Marlowe. But w Continue Reading...
Role? King or Madman? The Art of the drama in Shakespeare's drama of Henry IV, Part I Henry IV and Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Shakespeare is of course a dramatist, that is, he was an author of plays with fictional characters in them, portrayed by r Continue Reading...
Othello has used military service to prove he is not a savage to white leaders, but his reliance upon the counsel of military officers and his over-valuing of military decision-making and life makes him descend into savagery. This is true even befor Continue Reading...
Dirty Harry" Stars in Action Hero -- 1984 Hamlet "Hamlet: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Action Hero of Denmark." This thesis statement or subtitle for Franco Zeffirelli's 1984 movie version of Shakespeare's Danish prince may not be catchy on a box office Continue Reading...
These were comedies that appealed to the more conservative, middle-class, sentimental, moralistic, and upheld a newly optimistic view of human progress and political development. (Wilson & Goldfarb, 1999) The 18th century view generally held th Continue Reading...
Like Romeo, Juliet believes that the only solution is committing suicide, but the Friar tells her of a secret potion, a drug that will make her only appear dead for almost two days. The Friar tells Juliet to take it the night before her wedding. Me Continue Reading...
To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For w Continue Reading...
Oedipus Rex was definitely one of Sophocles' best plays as well as one of the foremost of all the Greek tragedies. Oedipus, the King of Thebes, is a classical character for his mix of attributes; wise and courageous yet proud and sometimes ill-temper Continue Reading...
Miller and Eliot on Beauty Comparing and Contrasting "Beauty" in Miller and Eliot Arthur Miller and T.S. Eliot are two 20th century American playwrights. While the latter is more commonly noted for expatriating to Britain and writing some of the mo Continue Reading...
Pastoral/Forest Scenes 'As you like it" is one of the darker comedies of Shakespeare's and is largely based on pastoral tradition that was very popular during Renaissance. This comedy especially draws inspiration from a pastoral novel by Thomas Lod Continue Reading...
It awakened her imagination and excited her about the theater, and it also instructed her, forming the basis for her future art. Another contributor, Beth Henley, has a very different memory: of being greatly disappointed at the ordinariness of a pr Continue Reading...
Macbeth In Act I Scene 2 of the tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare -- after giving a brutally graphic description of how Macbeth "unseam'd…from the nave to the chaps" an enemy soldier -- makes his hero's name rhyme with the word "death" at the sc Continue Reading...
