Abstract This paper examines the ? fool?s? role in "King Lear". According to the author the "fool" holds three very important purposes in the play ? he represents the inner-conscience, provides advice and basic reasoning for the King, and also entertains the King with his witty and sometimes foolish banter.
From the Paper ?While these roles are clear, the Fool has little impact on the outcome of the play, and could very easily be removed from the story all together. In doing so, much of the lighthearted side of this tragedy would disappear, which may have been Shakespeare's main purpose in ever including the Fool as a character. Time and time again, the Fool tries to tell King Lear what a grave mistake he has made by selecting Regan and Goneril as his heirs. Shakespeare uses such unusual methods of oration through the Fool. The Fool is not ignorant, nor is he the one who is behaving foolishly, but he uses humor instead of sternness to point out his King's mistakes.?
Abstract The paper shows how "King Lear" by William Shakespeare, is an unforgettably disturbing story of unbearable injustice and cruelty as well as of unseen loyalty and love. The paper explores how, from beginning to end, it is a tale of deception, and not just any kind, but filial deception as well as fraternal deception and deception in relationships by affinity. The author uses quotes from the original text to show how the theme of disloyalty is seen throughout the play.
From the Paper "Birds of a treacherous feather flock together and dupe one another too. The sisters Goneril and Regan now both want Edmund, who rather than choose, takes both of them for convenience and in order to avoid the displeasure of both:"To both these sisters have I sworn my love; each jeaolus of the other, as the stung are of the adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither?" (Act 5 Scene 1 lines 64-67)
"We know how the sisters try to outdo each other till the end, but with Goneril finally poisoning Regan and eliminating her from the competition, Goneril being the original and more wicked of the two. But Goneril meets her own end when her husband Albany gets hold of her secret letter to Edmund and Albany confronts her. In smoldering embarrassment and guilt, she takes her own life."
Abstract The paper discusses "Tartuffe" and other comedies by Moliere and the greatness of this French writer in his ability to turn everyday events into masterpieces. The paper shows that Moliere's work reminds us that there is little that is new under the sun, but that this hardly matters in art. Indeed, some of the most profound pleasures that we take from art are based on the fact that artists have the ability to make what is old and tired into something that is simultaneously both fresh and familiar. The paper also compares the comedy of the 17th century to today's humor.
From the Paper "Much of the appeal of these stock characters to Moliere must also have been based in his fundamental understanding ? as an actor as well as a playwright ? to the way in which humor itself works. To understand how humor works, it is important to understand that humor is almost always at someone's expense. The most harmless kinds of humor are those jokes that come at our own expense: If the only person made to look foolish by a joke is the person telling it, then it has indeed done little if any harm."
Abstract This paper is an analysis of Macbeth, one of the most famous Shakespearean Tragedies, and contains the characters Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth, who is the first influential woman figure in literature. This paper analyses the play and discusses in detail the complete role reversal that occurs between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Tags: macbeth, shakespere, blood, evil, characters, macduff, king
Abstract The paper examines the claim that Othello's own weakness of character is responsible for his downfall. It uses Othello's feelings of jealousy and his low self-image as examples of this claim. It traces the way Othello's personality changes through the play in response to Iago's plot. The paper also looks at the animal imagery used in the play to describe the characters.
From the Paper "Othello is an accomplished military leader who has the trust and admiration of the duke and the senate, as well as that of Desdemona and her father, Brabantio. But his greatest battle and tragic failure takes place within him, his weakness of character, especially his response to the temptations of jealousy by the vile promptings of Iago, his ensign. Othello is prepared for the most difficult fights with strong opponents, but not when his opponent is his own reaction.
Despite his high rank in the military and the Venetian society, Othello remains insecure within himself and suddenly realizes his small self-regard when Iago dubiously suggests that fresh, young and beautiful Desdemona and his newly-stalled lieutenant Cassio are having a secret love affair. Othello becomes conscious of his perceived liabilities, namely his being a black man with "thick lips" and his being older than Desdemona, which perhaps make him not that attractive to her:"
Abstract A paper which discusses the hero/antihero motif used in literature. The writer uses the Shakespearean play, "Hamlet", as a backdrop to discuss the various aspects of the motif and to dissect its components. The term "hero" is defined and shows that the heroism depicted in America today is different since the September 11 terror attacks.
From the Paper "The use of the hero motif in the play is a key factor to its success. The entire plot of the story is based in Hamlet's courage and handling of the death of his father and the revenge that he seeks. However, the revenge is a while in coming because of Hamlet's very real human traits that cause him to hesitate when it comes to the murder of his uncle. The process of hero motif action is played out in this work and it is the foundational basis of the story itself. If one were to remove all elements of the hero and the anti-hero the story would have no plot and would never have been considered complete. "
Abstract This essay studies William Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar". It approaches the antagonism of both Caesar and the conspirators and the motivations of the conspirators. The themes of political achievement and popular responsibility are also discussed.
From the Paper "Caesar was popular on the streets. His popularity was his source of power. Manipulation is a vice of politicians; on the converse side, influence is a political virtue. These are characteristics of Caesar. Because of his popularity, he can do anything he wants, as the Plebes rule Rome indirectly. This sets the stage for the political statement of the play. As there is an order set, this pure democracy of Rome is one of a kind. The people cast no votes as a whole, but only the elite. However, the approval of the Plebes is the primary concern of all politicians in Rome. This power of the people, however, is flexible in an uneducated society, as is most of Rome. Those who ran the politicians could easily be persuaded by those they ran (i.e. the politicians), who offered supremacy to Caesar."
Abstract A paper which presents a detailed discussion about the role of women in "Richard III" by William Shakespeare. The writer of this paper brings forth the roles played by females as well as a discussion about the impact they bring to the work both in emotional as well as movement areas of their life. The paper shows how the women in the real life of Richard III were strong and intelligent but Shakespeare chose to portray them with personality traits he needed for the play.
From the Paper "In the real life of Queen Margaret she played a marginal role in the life of Richard III but in the play she was a key and central figure to the Kings rise to power and fame. She was a presenter of truths through her visions. Instead of being the strong and capable woman that she was in real life Shakespeare had her a constantly crying woman because she felt her cause was lost. One of the reasons he may have placed her in the position that he did was because it allowed him to write some things he wanted the audience to understand without having to create entire scenes for them and hire more actors to carry out the scenes(Rackin pg 47). "
Tags: Yorkist, partisan, Elizabeth, Queen, Margaret
Abstract This paper presents a look at Tennessee William's famed drama "The Glass Menagerie". The writer of this paper expresses the belief that the character Jim is a young version of Amanda and Tom is a young version of his father.
From the Paper " Literary characters often represent real life and the Glass Menagerie is no exception. The characters of the story are younger versions of others and this is true in real life as well. Often times we grow up promising ourselves that we will not turn out like our parents. Then when we reach adulthood we are shocked to see how like our parents we are. It is a wonder that more literary works do not develop this angle of life. "The Glass Menagerie" is a work that presents the characters in a fashion that is close to real life. Jim and Tom are both trying to carve out their own identities and they are working to prevent being compared to the elders but they are not going to be able to stop it from happening no matter how hard they try."
Tags: tom, jim, amanda, play, drama, american, father, relationships
Abstract The soliloquy of William Shakespeare's "Henry V," gives an insight into the thoughts of King Henry after he has overheard his troops the night before the epic battle. This paper breaks down his speech and examines how it represents Henry not only as a great leader but also as a human being.
From the Paper "The importance of the soliloquy is that it is a form of dialogue in which a character delivers a brief speech to the audience ? or into "space" as a mode of reflective discourse (Martin and Jacobus 229-230). Though many do not immediately think of Henry V as being a production with a soliloquy, as they would Hamlet and other productions, the soliloquy given by King Henry is very moving and expresses his feelings the night before the final battle."
Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the play in terms of the theme of desire. The characters are probed and shown to demonstrate, each in their own way, the main desire of the play, lust and greed for material wealth. The desire for love in the play is also explored.
From the Paper "All the characters of the play desire to own the farm. They plot and scheme against each other for its ownership. But then love envelopes them and their desires take them to other emotional and dangerous extremes.
"Eugene O?Neil's "Desire Under The Elm" revolves around the concept of desire. There are several states of desire that are revealed by the characters of the play. The three main characters portray their desire and passion in different categories and stages of emotional expressions. The main desire in the play however is the lust and greed for material wealth. All the characters namely Eben, Abbie and Ephraim display the desire for owning the farm eminently and it is the emotional desire and want for the ownership of the property that turns them into evil-minded characters. In the backdrop of the play is the desire and passion of love which ultimately forces the two characters Eben and Abbie to realize that there is a more powerful desire in love than the desire for property, love which takes them into a totally different direction altogether."
Abstract This paper introduces and discusses "As You Like It" by William Shakespeare. Specifically, it illustrates how Jaques' speech informs the readers of the play's intent, and how the binary relationships in the play add to its meaning and performance.
From the Paper "We also learn more about Jaques, the pessimistic grumbler who is the opposite of Rosalind and Celia, two of the optimists of the play. Almost all the characters chide Jaques about his attitude at some time or other during the play. Jaques is the anchor role that keeps this romantic comedy from becoming too buoyant and unbelievable. He is sour, and keeps the action from becoming too sappy. He is the melancholy character, opposite of the witty and laughable Touchstone, the jester. Shakespeare knew that you cannot have only positive and funny characters to get the point of the play across, you need to balance them with the cynicism of a character like Jaques to really create a realistic portrayal of his themes and issues. Touchstone is a jester, but so is Jaques in his own way. His consistent pessimism is as ridiculous as Touchstone's jesting."
Abstract This paper examines the various aspects of Iago's character in Shakespeare's play, "Othello". It focuses on his seemingly conflicting emotions and feelings for Othello and describes how his latent homosexuality leads him to cause the breakdown of Othello's marriage.
From the Paper "Many readers who have enjoyed Shakepeare's literary works credit the character Iago in Othello as his most wicked villain. His most intriguing characteristic is the fact that he does not really convince the reader on his true motives for creating the havoc he inspires in the play (http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/canalysis.html, 2). His plethora of reasons for hating various characters in the play are too loud and muddled, one minute expressing his hatred for Othello, his irritation over his wife Emilia, his envy of Cassio, his desire for Desdemona, etc. This paper endeavours to provide another motivation that truly drives Iago to create havoc in the relationships between other characters. It is Iago's latent homosexuality, ultimately for Othello (http://www.geocities.com/corrinenefurness/othelloquestion3.htm, 3) yet also transferred to Cassio, which drives Iago to divide the marriage of Othello and Desdemona and distance any would-be rivals from Othello's confidence."
Abstract The paper shows that the story of the original sin was a vitally important one for Christians throughout history, and in the extensively Christian world for which William Shakespeare wrote, its absolute truth went unquestioned. The paper discusses how in many ways, the play "Othello" may be seen as a political, emotional, and tragic response to the same questions of knowledge, culpability and death that this creation myth inspires. It shows how the serpent, Iago, convinces the original and ideal man to rebel against god in search of knowledge that he ought not have, and which will only destroy him: Thus Othello falls from strength and purity to weakness, depravity, and death.
From the Paper "Act III, Scene III, is by far the most loaded and pivotal scene in the play. It is in this scene that Othello is truly seduced to take the forbidden fruit in his hand and to let that "green-eyed monster" of jealousy to run loose in his heart. Like a newly created creature, at the beginning of the seen he is a lighthearted 16 year old bridegroom. Certainly he has seen his share of the world, won battles and undergone dire straits, but he is still in many ways childlike and innocent. "
Abstract The paper shows that the English stage during the late 17th century was a time of rebuilding, and also a time of creation. There were many different ideas on what theatre should be and it was very common for one person to have an idea, and as soon as it was known, opposing ideas were quickly published, followed by various defenses of the original idea. The paper discusses several people who were well known for their opinions from that time period, including Jeremy Collier, John Dryden, Alexander Pope, William Congreve and William Stubbs.
From the Paper "When the Stuart Dynasty returned to the throne of England in 1660, the playhouses were reopened. In August, Charles II issued patents for two companies of players, and performances immediately began. However, theatre had evolved a bit. The Royalty and the Nobility, as well as a few independent companies now owned theatrical troupes. Often the ones that had permanent theatres such as Convent Garden, Drury Lane and Dorset Garden had Noble backers to provide for the upkeep. Costumes were often second hand garments that the nobility no longer desired. Slowly the better-kept theatres became places to see and be seen. Often what was going on in the auditorium was just as much, or more interesting then what was on stage. The style of the playwriting was of a lesser form then that of the Elizabethan plays. It frequently utilized stereotypes and stock characters."
Tags: Elizabethan, Heroic, Stanzas, The, Old, Batchelor, An, Essay, on, Criticism
