Abstract This paper explains that the way Shakespeare constructed the themes of racism in "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice" can be analyzed using social-psychological theory because the racism towards Othello and Shylock is based purely on racial and religious differences between Othello, Shylock, and the Venetians. The author points out that Othello, the Moor of Venice, is referred to by other Venetians as the Moor or another derogatory, bestial name, "the thick-lips", "an old black ram", "a Barbary horse", and "the lascivious Moor", much more often than by his name, which, while not necessarily indicating racism, separates Othello from those around him. The paper concludes that Shakespeare's ability to characterize human nature is perfectly illustrated in the characters of the Christian Venetians, Othello, and Shylock.
From the Paper "Shylock is telling us that Antonio hates him because he is Jewish, however when considering Shylock's place in society and psychological theory, there is more to his hatred than just religion. Antonio also thinks Shylock is despicable because of his un-holy and sinful profession, even though Antonio and the other Venetians take advantage of his business. Shylock's job poses a threat to Christian values, but it is also slightly more significant that just that. The Christian Venetians feel threatened because they themselves are not being very Christian and ruining their society themselves; they are taking advantage of a money lender, and try to deny Shylock of the Christian virtue of mercy (IV.i.182-203)."
Abstract This essay discusses how Coriolanus's mother uses three convincing arguments to try to talk her son out of destroying his home city. The writer emphasizes how Coriolanus's mother used syntax and diction to persuade her son.
From the Paper "Shakespeare had a way with words that few people could ever duplicate. A wonderful example of how Shakespeare used language and imagery to express emotion is the monologue by Coriolanus? mother in the Shakespearian play of the same name. In the short exert from Coriolanus, a woman's son is preparing to destroy his own city. His mother is attempting to discourage his actions. She tries to convince him to make peace between his people (The Romans) and the Volsces, she tries to dissuade him by telling him that if he does conquer his own city than he will dishonor his name, she tells him that destroying a people is an "act of the Gods" and that if he tries to accomplish it he will really accomplish nothing, she expresses to him how dishonorable it is to hold a grudge, she uses her children and herself to guilt him into not attacking the city and she finally warns him that if he goes through with his plan than the Gods will spite him."
Abstract This paper examines how William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is a play about revenge and indecision and how, because Hamlet's father is wronged, Hamlet himself spends most of the play deliberating on the subject of his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has killed his father, married his mother, and assumed the throne. It looks at how his father's ghost pushes him to seek revenge, although he does not want to, and how there are many possible reasons for his delay in vengeance, among them Hamlet's own mercurial nature and his desire to protect his mother. It examines Hamlet's quest for vengeance by looking at the text directly and taking cues from secondary sources and concludes that Hamlet's delay in taking vengeance is primarily based on his indecision, his self-interest, and his desire to protect Gertrude.
From the Paper "Throughout the play, Hamlet makes his own choices regarding his plan for avenging his father, and these choices are affected by his own personal ideas about fate and what he sees himself as being chosen for (vengeance). Hamlet represents reluctance to carry out what he sees as his destined goal of getting rid of his father's murderer and his mother's seducer: ?O cursed spite/ That ever I was born to set it right!? (Shakespeare, I,v, 188-9), he cries upon making Horatio and Marcellus swear to help him in his plans to oust Claudius. Hamlet is not just following the orders of his father's ghost; he is struggling with his own goals and ideas about what is right and wrong; his conscience is
at war with his need for vengeance. He passes up many opportunities to either escape his fate of having to avenge his father and quiet his ghost or assure it. He chooses to make his vendetta intensely personal. This personal vendetta makes Hamlet a dangerous character because he is working on the whims of his own emotions."
Abstract This paper details the differences and similarities between the characters of Katherina and Bianca in this Shakespearean play and shows how their characters change throughout the play. It looks at how Katherina begins as a shrew and how Bianca is shown to be exactly the opposite of Katherina and how, by the end of the play, Katherina and Bianca have completely switched places, with Katherina being the modest, submissive wife and Bianca the shrew.
From the Paper "At the beginning of the play we see Katherina as a beautiful and wealthy woman with a high social status like her father, but she is also condemned as being a curst shrew and a devil, and Gremio clearly shows this when, in Act I Scene 1, he says: "Think"st thou, Hortensio, though her father be very rich, any man is so very a fool to be married to hell??. In addition, in Act I Scene 2, he says ?Katherine the curst, / A title for a maid of all titles the worst.? "
Abstract This paper explains that Iago, from William Shakespeare's play, ?Othello,? is probably one of the best evil characters ever created. The author points out that he is an interesting case study because he is proud of his evilness and plans to use it to his utmost abilities to bring Othello down. The paper relates that another aspect about Iago's character that makes him so detestable is that he really has no reasonable excuse to hate Othello so much; he is not crazy, but rather is smart and clever, two characteristics that make him even more dangerous.
From the Paper "Another characteristic of Iago that is unforgettable is his cleverness throughout the entire play. Iago must know Othello well because he demonstrates that he knows just the right things to say to Othello to spur his anger and jealousy. Robert Heilman claims, ?Wit is Iago's instrument to compensate for what he does not have. He perversely hates and yet lusts after what he does not have . . . and he undertakes to disparage it, minimize it, debunk it, and destroy it.? Once he knows what it is he wants to do, he has no trouble achieving his goal. Critic Harold Bloom states that Iago's ruination of Othello is in some ways too subtle for criticism to paraphrase. Iago suggests Desdemona's infidelity by at first not suggesting it, but hovering near and around it.? This is all too true."
Abstract This paper discusses Othello's soliloquy from William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice". This soliloquy is critical for framing the dramatic center of the play. Using the play as the primary text and beginning with a brief summary of what has happened up to this point, the paper presents a discussion of the critical third scene soliloquy of Othello. An analysis of the characters of both Othello and Iago follows logically into an explanation of Artistotle's catharsis, the emotional roots of the play.
From the Paper "We find that Iago, who has been scheming from the first Act of the work, turns his full powers upon Othello. From line thirty-four and following, we see Iago directly attack Othello's emotions, both to suggest that Cassio is up to no good with Othello's wife, and that she herself is succumbing to his charms as seducer. "Ha! I like not that!" Iago proclaims when he and Othello come upon Desdemona and Cassio speaking together (III.iii.34). The timing of events is very important in Act III. Iago anticipates and manipulates the other characters so skillfully that they seem to be acting simultaneously of their own free will and as Iago's puppets."
Abstract This paper shows that, despite often being used as a negative color, Shakespeare uses black in "Titus Andronicus" in a positive way. Aaron the Moor, though the villain, is actually the only good parent in the play and the only character who remains true to himself.
From the Paper "Scene Two of Act Four also shows Aaron as a parent. The birth of his son provides him a bond with another person sharing his skin color, and he feels the need to protect his son, who is now his only ally. Demetrius says that he will kill the boy: "I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point. / Nurse, give it to me, my sword shall soon dispatch it" (4.2.85-86). Aaron stands up for his son without missing a beat and threatens Demetrius: "Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up" (4.2.87). Aaron's strong love and his willingness to fight for the child's safety contrasts greatly to the other parents in Titus."
Abstract This paper argues that Hamlet feigns madness because it will give him the leverage he needs to avenge his father's death. The paper asserts that Hamlet realizes that, by feigning madness, he will have more freedom to act in a manner that will allow him to get revenge on the murderer of his father.
From the Paper "In both these scenes, Hamlet is talking with people he has always viewed as close friends and confidantes. After determining who he can and cannot trust, he tells those he trusts, and who can help him achieve his goal, that he is not mad. He tells those he cannot trust, Rosencranz and Guildenstern, that he is mad. Each person is convinced of exactly what Hamlet needs them to believe. This is not madness. It is, in fact, the height of rationality. Hamlet is like a play master, scripting what he wants the four characters to do and say."
Abstract This paper argues that the witches in "Macbeth" are diabolical beings who possess humans. The paper suggests that the characters in the play unconsciously echo the witches in the beginning, though not one of the characters had actually met the witches, suggesting something a little deeper than the average witchery that people think happened in "Macbeth".
From the Paper "William C. Carroll's description of the witches in his introduction to Macbeth is that of "malevolent external figures" (Carroll 2) who "symbolize the dark inner mental state of Macbeth himself" (2). The key point in Carroll's argument to be made is that while the witches can influence Macbeth's actions, they cannot compel him to commit evil deeds. The witches represent the dark powers that have the ability to influence men's decisions, but, more importantly, they are an outward representation of Macbeth's inner evil. It is this evilness and greed within his own human nature that persuades him, rather than it being the fate of the witches. The witches represent what Macbeth has hidden inside himself. He has already contemplated killing Duncan, but the witches have given Macbeth a motive for committing the murder."
Abstract The actions of Prospero in relation to his two servants, Ariel and Caliban, very much contradict his motivations and goals throughout the play, "The Tempest," by William Shakespeare. The paper shows that, while Prospero is trying to fight injustice and restore his own life, he is, in a sense, stealing the power and lives of his servants.
From the Paper "In Shakespeare's The Tempest, one of the main characters in the play, Prospero, has been exiled to an island. While living there he encounters two inhabitants of the island and makes them his servants. Caliban, one of Prospero's servants, has lived his whole life on the island after being left there by sailors with his mother, Sycorax. The other servant is Ariel, a mischievous spirit who Prospero found trapped in tree by a spell cast many years ago by Sycorax. The relationships between Prospero and his two servants are very different, although he maintains his control over both of them through his use of words. Prospero promises Ariel his freedom after he is done serving Prospero's desires, but Caliban is treated very differently. He is looked down upon and treated cruelly with no promise of ever being free. Unlike Ariel, Caliban is not content to serve Prospero and attempts to remove him of his power in order to restore his own life and rule over the island, but in his attempt to do so he offers to become a servant of Stephano. Throughout the play Prospero is attempting to fight the injustice of losing his power as Duke of Milan, but the way he treats his servants and steals their power is unjust."
Abstract This paper discusses the play, "Hamlet," by William Shakespeare, claiming that the fear of culpability and having to answer to the community is much greater for Hamlet than fear of the law and even fear of God. The paper contends that, by virtue of answering only to an abstract other, Hamlet answers only to himself. The paper explains that his fear of being held responsible is a fear mediated by an unspecified community that is never seen, yet never disregarded. The absence of a specific general community shows that the culpability Hamlet so fears is as unfixed and intangible to him as his own personality.
From the Paper "Shakespeare's play Hamlet presents the audience with a protagonist who defines himself by what he does not want to be. When pressed towards action, Hamlet will often think less about what to do and more often about how what he will do is to be perceived by others. This persistent reliance upon definition of character through the negation of action seems to be tied to Hamlet's fear of culpability that, like the ghost of his father, haunts him throughout the course of the play. This is quite an immature posture for a thirtysomething Prince, and indeed can easily be read as childishness. The nature of his childishness is not the simply the result of immaturity, however, but the result of a growing concern about light being cast on the horrible revenge he thinks about and acts towards achieving but never fully does. Hamlet's fear of being seen as a culpable entity, particularly in the case of his desire to murder Claudius, causes problems because it makes him impotent to action and this impotence makes him a wildly unfocused character who is, in the final estimation, deeply shallow."
Abstract This paper explains that, through the 20th and 21st centuries' psychological and individualistic lens, "Hamlet" often is thought of as a drama primarily about one man's relationship with a dead father and a living and murderous stepfather, but it also can be seen as a play almost completely about the circular economy of revenge, which, during the Elizabethan and Jacobean era, was one of the ways individuals remained connected to the past and the world of the dead. The author believes that the most chilling display of the ideology of revenge is the scene in the graveyard, where Ophelia's corpse is wrestled between her brother and Hamlet. The paper relates that, in Act 4, when Hamlet returns from England, the site of Protestantism, he no longer sees revenge as a positive thing; the Elizabethan audience would have approved of this attitude, which despised revenge and purgatory as anti-humanist, but still acknowledged the need to survive in a bloody, politically uncomfortable, and divided society.
From the Paper ""Hamlet" begins with a Denmark under siege in Scene 2, with the Norwegian Fortinbras demanding revenge for his dead father in the form of restitution of Norwegian lands. Upon meeting the ghost of his dead father, Hamlet vows revenge upon his uncle. He says he will forget all of his studies, even his identity, until this is accomplished. Hamlet does not kill his uncle at prayer, because the revenge will not be full and fitting if Claudius does not suffer in purgatory, calling this hire and salary, rather than true revenge. Laertes vows revenge upon Hamlet, the man who killed his father. Ophelia bedecks herself in flowers and uses the flowers to communicate, through the riddles of her broken mind, to say what she could not say while sane."
Abstract This paper examines love as the central theme in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare. The paper contends that love is seen in several relationships throughout the play and, therefore, can be seen as the overall theme throughout the play. The paper examines each of those relationships and instances where love is prevalent.
From the Paper "The theme of A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare can be found in the true statement of Lysander in Act I Scene I Line 134, "the course of true love never did run smooth." (A Midsummer Nights Dream) During the course of this play four young lovers enter the woods each battling their own rocky course of love. They each experience several different things before finally emerging from the woods two happy couples. Two other couples also experience a difficult path to love during the course of the play, the duke and his new wife, and the mystical beings Titania and Oberon. At times these couples' paths cross and desires are swapped, making this tale a true story of difficult love and uneasy paths."
Abstract This paper examines how in his play "Hamlet", Shakespeare purposely gives Hamlet and Laertes parallel characteristics to clarify the central theme of revenge and its consequences. It looks at several similarities between the characters such as the murder of their fathers, love for Ophelia, the corruption of their revenge plans and the irony of their deaths.
From the Paper "Hamlet insists that Gertrude does not sleep with Claudius for at least one night. Hamlet uses his manipulative language to convince Gertrude to obey him. Like Laertes, Hamlet furthermore uses his control over Ophelia. During one of Hamlet's fits acts of insanity, he insists that he used to love Ophelia. Without question, Ophelia believes him. "Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so" (3.1.118). Hamlet, still acting crazy, immediately changes his mind. "You should not have believed me [...] I loved you not" (3.1.119-121). Ophelia immediately submits to what Hamlet tells her. "I was the more deceived" 3.1.122). The actions of Ophelia and Gertrude confirm Hamlet's comment that "Frailty, thy name is woman!" (1.2.146). Both the women are weak and submissive to Hamlet and Laertes' comparable controlling personalities. "
Examines the characters of Desdemona and Emilia in "Othello" by William Shakespeare and argues how the violence imposed upon them by their husbands is a social statement of the women's restrained state in society.
1,723 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 0 sources, 2005, $ 55.95
Abstract This essay looks at marriage as a patriarchal institution, and shows how the violence that occurs against Desdemona and Emilia in "Othello" by William Shakespeare infers the dominance that men hold over women. The essay also looks at the dominant views about femininity, as expressed by Iago, and shows how these stereotypes dictate the fate of Desdemona and Emilia.
From the Paper "Othello uses words like "greedy" and "devour" to illustrate how Desdemona hungered for him and chased after him. Othello does fear Desdemona will leave him once her curiosity is quenched, as he expresses through lines "She loved me for the dangers I had passed. And I loved her that she did pity them" (I.iii 165-167). In these lines, Othello shows through the use of the past tense and suggestive language that he knows Desdemona loves him for his exoticness, but that the thrill of it may soon wear off as the dangers dwindle."
