Abstract This paper analyzes sonnets nine and ten, written by William Shakespeare, which have a central theme of love and passion. The paper looks at how the sonnets develop with the use of vernacular language in the poet's own style. It also discusses the words, phrasing, tempo, style and flow of both sonnets.
From the Paper "Shakespeare is one of those gifted writers whose work is seen as having a particular aspect and his commission of his art is exemplary of the world in his day, yet one cannot fail to ask what his motivations are that he should tell the youth to seek out a wife and multiply his seed.
Then in sonnet ten he turns around as if to say it doesn"t matter. What are his motivations then, his mind changes from one sonnet to the other is it perhaps that he does not want the boy to be unhappy in his pursuit of a wife""
From the Paper "Kenneth Branagh's film of Shakespeare's Hamlet is remarkable for the use of the entire, uncut text of the play and for its elaborate design. Despite the director's commitment to the full text, however, he shows an even more remarkable lack of faith in the power of the language and acting and, in fact, visually supplements the text at certain points in ways that underline his uneasiness with leaving anything unshown. The visual strategy devised for this film is revealed in many places to be based on reasonable considerations of how the look of the piece can enhance its meanings. But even when the best intentions govern the choices the film fails in almost every respect because the production design, costumes, and art direction seem to be there for their own sake rather than to serve the drama."
From the Paper "William Shakespeare's The Tempest is categorized along with other plays written near the end of the playwright's life, plays that are considered difficult to classify so that they are called tragicomedies, showing that there is a mixture of both comedy and tragedy inherent in their structure and characterizations. Ferdinand and Miranda are the lovers in this play, but they represent more than merely youthful desire and serve as pawns in a larger game being played by Miranda's father, Prospero. At the same time, Prospero always protects his daughter, and his encouragement of their romance should be seen in the context of a doting father wanting the best for his daughter in spite of his dedication to exacting revenge and regaining his place in the outside world.
Prospero has been given considerable power as a magician..."
Abstract This paper discusses the more complex character and motives behind Macbeth's actions which characterize him as a tragic hero. The paper shows that Shakespeare's Macbeth must have seemed like nothing more than a butcher to his victims but upon careful analysis of the text, one realizes that Macbeth was not fully evil, but a potentially great man who was led to evil through errors and forces beyond his control.
From the Paper "In the culmination of Shakespeare's Macbeth, Malcolm refers to Macbeth as "this dead butcher". Superficially, Macbeth is nothing more than a butcher ? he murdered his king, his kinsmen, even innocent women and children. From Malcolm's perspective, Macbeth is no more than a heartless killer gone mad, Key lines in this play show that Macbeth is not heartless or a butcher. Macbeth had a potential for greatness, but tragic errors led to his downfall ? both in his death and his "fall from grace". Macbeth also experiences intense remorse for what he has done. The character of Macbeth is a tragic hero."
Abstract This paper analyzes Leontes' character in "The Winter's Tale" by Shakespeare. The paper provides reference to his interactions, behavior, relationships, madness, paranoia and many other factors that lead to his demise.
From the Paper "As Leontes makes his first appearance in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tales", the reader is confronted by an aggressively insecure character. His conversation with the more relaxed Polixenes is illustrative of this. Polixenes, in his anxiety to leave, explains that he has overstayed his welcome; "Besides, I have stay"d To tire you royalty? Polixenes? suggestion is clearly a polite one, a non-threatening exclamation of gratitude. However, in a representation of his competitive character, Leontes mis-comprehends this as a challenge; "We are tougher, brother, Tha you can put us to"t?."
The paper explores how the images of Roman and Egyptian cultures in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" reflect the battle of ideologies represented in the play.
Abstract By analyzing William Shakespeare's play, "Antony and Cleopatra", the paper focuses on images from Roman culture such as gods (Mars, Venus), heroes (Aeneas, Dido), Antony's sword. The paper then explores the images from Egyptian culture such as Isis and Osiris, serpent of the Nile. Finally it shows how these images are a reflection of both characters' ideologies and beliefs.
From the Paper "The spectators of Anthony and Cleopatra are inevitably overwhelmed by the splendor of imagery and the richness of images in the speeches of the characters. Opposition and juxtaposition of the images from Roman and Egyptian cultures contribute much to this effect. The use of these images is very intense; it reflects the battle of the ideologies that is fought on the stage. The central thematic conflict in Anthony and Cleopatra evolves from the opposing claims upon Anthony of the values and attitudes symbolized by the Roman and the Egyptian worlds."
From the Paper "William Shakespeare is the leading dramatist in history and wrote the plays against which all subsequent dramatic writing has been measured. Shakespeare's tragedies generally follow the demands of the Aristotelian view of the tragic hero, though Shakespeare does bend some of the Aristotelian "rules" when he believes it is necessary to accomplish his purpose. An examination of several of his tragedies will show how he achieves his dramatic effects in terms of the definition of the tragic hero.
The tragic hero derives from the Greek drama, as elucidated by the criticism of Aristotle in particular. Tragedy in this conception is struggling against something over which we really have no control, and the tragedy develops from a recognition of the futility of the struggle, leading to the resignation of the.."
From the Paper " This is a study of "guilt after or before evil deeds" in Richard III. Shakespeare creates five distinct ways of relating to this basic question of conscience in the presence of evil. First, in public, Richard the King displays a strong conscience, but in private he shows no conscience whatsoever. Second, the Second Murderer, Edward IV, Dighton, and Forrest express a strong sense of conscience prior in the presence of evil deeds. Third, Clarence, Rivers, Grey, Vaughan, Hastings, and Buckingham commit evil deeds in spite of conscience and are moved to express remorse only when they are caught and judged. Fourth, Queen Margaret, Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of York, and Queen Anne keep the question of conscience and justice before everyone through their curses and accusations. Finally, Henry Tudor rids the kingdom of moral uncertainty and restores justice to its.."
From the Paper "OUTLINE
THESIS: Although The Merchant of Venice is often described as a romantic comedy, and although the play does have comic and romantic elements, an analysis of the characters, especially the central figures of Shylock, Antonio, and Portia, reveals the play to be far more dramatic and tragic than comedic.
I. Shylock is a tragic character.
A. He is ruled by a greed which alienates him from others.
B. He is shown to be in part a character wronged by others and justified in his desire for revenge against Antonio.
C. The complexity of his character shows Shakespeare himself to be ambivalent about him, but at no time is he shown to be a comic villain.
II. Antonio is a tragic character."
Reviews the 1948 film version of HAMLET directed by & starring Sir Laurence Olivier. Focuses on Olivier's allegiance to the text in creating his version.
675 words (approx. 2.7 pages), 1 source, 1998, $ 23.95
From the Paper "One of the best film versions of William Shakespeare's Hamlet is that directed by and starring Laurence Olivier and made in 1948. The Olivier film is dark, brooding, and truly theatrical, with sets that are suggestive rather than realistic, expressionistic rather than precise. The darkness of the image is matched by a darkness of spirit and a sense of foreboding that hangs over the film from the first frame. Such a dark and expressionistic setting fits quite well with the internal brooding of Hamlet. The character of Hamlet is considered difficult because he is seen as passive rather than active for most of the play. Early in the play he is given the task of avenging his father by his father's ghost, and yet for most of the play he seems to do nothing about it. He is highly reflective but inactive until the very end of the play when he does.."
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine the figure of the adventurer, exile, or wanderer as the displaced representative or victim of institutions of power in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Shakespeare's The Tempest. The plan of the research will be to set forth in general terms the pattern of events and ideas in each work in regard to this figure and then to discuss the means by which the figure's narrative and symbolic significance is resolved.
The manifest action of The Tempest turns on the issue of rebellion and authority. The opening storm begins the revenge of the magician Prospero on Antonio, the Duke of Milan. As Prospero explains to Miranda in I.ii, he is the rightful duke. Some years earlier he had delegated most of his authority to his brother Antonio, who, by a combination of conspiracy with Alonso, King of .."
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine the representations of women in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing. The plan of the research will be to set forth the pattern of ideas in each play as it relates to the representation of women and then to discuss the means by which the characterizations emerge in the plays.
Although the details differ from play to play, what these three plays share is a line of action that demonstrates the coping strategies of women who are obliged to find--and who proceed to enact--a specific and appropriate social role. The pattern of ideas in The Taming of the Shrew as a whole can be said to define the pattern of female characterization in the play as well. The action of the play builds around the methods.."
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine the representation of the tragic hero or heroine in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth. The plan of the research will be to set forth the context in which the Shakespearean conception of heroism can be most efficiently understood, and then to discuss how tragic heroism is represented in each of the plays.
In his discussion of dramatic structure, H.D.F. Kitto distinguishes between Greek and Shakespearean tragedy, noting that "Greek tragedy presents sudden and complete disaster, or one disaster linked to another in linear fashion, while Shakespearean tragedy presents the complexive, menacing spread of ruin" (Kitto 337). Kitto applies this analysis to such Shakespearean plays as Hamlet and Macbeth, but it seems applicable as well to Romeo and Julie.."
Abstract Examines the dramatic impact of parent-child relationships on the development of ideas, action and the characters' fates in Shakespeare's plays
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine the dramatic impact of the parent-child relationships in Hamlet and King Lear. The plan of the research will be to set forth the importance of these relationships to the pattern of ideas in each play and then to discuss the means by and extent to which parent-child interaction drives the action of and the fate of all the characters in each play.
The complex parent-child situation at home initiates and drives the action of Hamlet, and Hamlet is the hub of parent-child relationships with his mother, his new stepfather/uncle, and the ghost of his father. Hamlet's emotional ties have been turned upside down. He compares Uncle Claudius unfavorably to the elder Hamlet, "no more like my father / Than I to Hercules" (I.ii). He does not understand how Gertrude could forget memories of ..."
Abstract The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is not a true love story. Instead, it seems to be the sort of relationship that everyone has long assumed and that has never developed to the degree others believe it has or perhaps wish it had.
From the Paper "The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is not a true love story. Instead, it seems to be the sort of relationship that everyone has long assumed and that has never developed to the degree others believe it has or perhaps wish it had. Gertrude expresses such a sentiment as she places flowers on Ophelia's grave: "Sweets to the sweet! Farewell./ I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife;/ I thought thy bride bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,/ And not have strew'd thy grave" (V.1.244-247). When Hamlet is feigning madness and wishes to tweak Laertes, he claims to have loved Ophelia, though his actions previously have not shown much love for her: "I lov'd Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ Could not (with all their quantity of love)/ Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?" (V.1.280-282)."
