Macbeth: Shakespeare's Comparisons And Contrasts
.... Macbeth, on the other hand, hesitates to murder Duncan for several
reasons. Among these reasons the earthly consequences frighten him the most.
How would his new subjects react? Would the kingdom disrupt in chaos?
Furthermore Macbeth cannot escape present punishment if he fails. We see Lady
Macbeth's persuasiveness producing a new courage in her husband and that courage
is manly enough to perform murder. Therefore, Macbeth has no reasons for
murdering Duncan except for his "vaulting ambition," his lust for power.
Throughout the play we see Lady Macbeth's and Macbeth's conscience, or lack of,
change places. Macbeth transformed .....
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Essay About Criticism Of Shakespeare's Plays
.... make note of the class struggle within the play; however,
critics tend to ignore the gender struggles which upon thorough reading are
clearly as obvious as the class issues. I have chosen an interpretation of King
Lear from 1960, by Irving Ribner and set it in contrast with a 1991 review by
Ann Thompson. There are some interesting points made in both essays and some
stark differences in ‘what and who' are the important themes and characters in
Lear.
In Irving Ribner's essay, “The Pattern of Regeneration in King Lear,”
Ribner focuses on Lear's regeneration as a result of the “suffering” he must
undergo(Ribner 116). In the openi .....
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Shakespeare's World
.... play survives. There is no direct
record of his conversations, and no one in his home town seems to have known
that he was a successful playwright while he was alive. There is not even a
contemporary portrait to reveal his true appearance. Although a number of
mentions of William Shakespeare the poet-dramatist appear on record during the
1590's and early 1600's, they comment only briefly on his writings, telling us
nothing about the man. Less is known about Shakespeare than almost any other
playwright of his time.
The orthodox version of William Shakespeare's life is probably the most
widely accepted Shakespeare legend .....
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Shakespeare And His Theater
.... of a pan to simulate thunder.
The stage itself was also remarkably versatile. Behind it were doors
for exits and entrances and a curtained booth or alcove useful for actors to
hide inside. Above the stage was a higher acting area which symbolized a porch
or balcony. This was useful in the story of Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo stood
below Juliet and told her how he loved her. In the stage floor was a trap door
which was said to lead to "hell" or a cellar, this was especially useful for
ghosts or devils who had to appear and disappear throughout the play. The stage
itself was shaped in a rectangular platform that .....
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Shakespeare's The Comedy Of Errors
.... dependent on her
husband and this fact alone made the play somewhat out of date. Shakespeare is
said to be "not of an age, but for all times," but Adriana's character, in my
opinion, would not fit in to the modern world. I feel the most important part
of the play is the message it conveys and should be used as a moral today. The
whole play is based on family members who are trying to reunite. The play says
that even though there are troubling issues in our lives, we must remember our
families, for without them, we are lost.
The Comedy of Errors, like all of Shakespeare's plays is well worth
watching. I would recommend ho .....
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Franco Zeffirelli And Baz Luhrmann's Romeo And Juliet
.... two wealthy families, the Montagues and the
Capulets. In Zeffirelli's film of "Romeo and Juliet," the prologue takes the
form of a dry narrator relating the story of the Montagues and Capulets over a
backdrop of an Italian city. For most modern viewers (especially teenagers),
the Luhrmann picture is fast-paced, keeping the spectator intrigued, while the
Zeffirelli picture is dreary and dull, an endless maze of long and boring
conversations, foreshadowed by the prologue. In Luhrmann's film, the actors,
instead of carrying swords with them, hide guns in their shirts and wield them
expertly. The death of Romeo and Juliet is (as a .....
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The Taming Of The Shrew: Summary
.... to marry wealthily in Padua. It
appeared, though, as if Petruchio was the kind of man who needed an opposition
in life. The shrewish Kate, who was known to have a sharp tongue, very
adequately filled his need for another powerful character in a relationship
(Kahn 419). When Petruchio began to woo Kate, everybody was rather surprised,
but Signior Baptista agreed when Petruchio wanted marry her on Saturday of the
week he met her. Clearly, he was not opposed because he wanted to hurry and get
Kate married so she would not be in Bianca's way anymore. Petruchio showed up
to the wedding late and in strange attire, but nevertheless .....
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Shakespeare's Definition Of A Ghost
.... ahead, or simply as the hallucinations of a crazed person or group.
Shakespeare recognized the complexity of the Elizabethan ghost's identity and
played off of the confusion, making the question of identity a key theme to his
play. Throughout Hamlet Shakespeare explores each of the possible identities of
the ghost with each one adding a new twist to Hamlet's plight.
When news of the ghost's presence first reaches Hamlet and Horatio, they
declare it an omen of forthcoming evil. Hamlet's reaction indicates that he is
not surprised, "My father's spirit - in arms? All is not well. / I doubt some
foul play. Would the night were come! .....
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The Merchant Of Venice: Shylock - Victim Or Villain
.... make a Jewish man the villain as it would be for us to make a Nazi the
villain. According to Sylvan Barnet "The Merchant of Venice [shows] the
broad outline of a comedy (not merely a play with jests, but a play that ends
happily). . . the villain in the comedy must be entirely villainous, or, rather,
comically villainous; he cannot for a moment gain the audience's sympathy" (1).
Shylock has often been portrayed as the villain in The Merchant of Venice. From
being more concerned with his ducats rather than his daughter, to demanding his
pound of flesh, Shylock fits perfectly into the mold of the villain. However,
with refer .....
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The Merchant Of Venice: Shylock - An In-depth Character Analysis
.... hear me! This is kind I offer.”
-Shylock
Often, this quote from Act 3 Scene 1 line 83,
“Why, there, there, there, there! A diamond gone cost me two thousand
ducats in Frankfurt! The curse never fell upon our nation till now, I
never felt it till now. Two thousand ducats in that and other precious,
precious, jewels! I would my daughter were dead at my foot and the
jewels in her ear;” portraying Shylocks' treatment of his daughter, after she
ran away, is manipulated to make Shylock seem beastly. But, within the Jewish
culture and the time period, his response was appropriate. After his daughter
ran away, she was, f .....
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Sir John Falstaff's Influence On Prince Hal In I Henry IV
.... robbers will be honored in England by “Let[ting] us be indulgence
Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, monions of the moon; and let[ting]
men say we be men of good government, being governed as the sea is, by our novle
and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal” (I, ii, 25-30).
Falstaff's final dismissal of law and order culminates with a comic plea to the
prince, urging him to have nothing to do with “old father antic the law? Do not
thou, when thou art King, hang a thief” (I, ii, 62-63). We see a similar
epithet in the next act, “send him packing” (II, iv, 301), in which Falstaff
again de .....
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The Soliloquies Of Hamlet
.... wipe away all trivial fond
records...and thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of
my brain” (1296), he proclaims.
In Hamlet's fourth soliloquy, his mental state shows signs of
declination. He castigates himself for not taking action to avenge his father.
He realizes that he has cause to kill Claudius, but cannot muster the chutzpah
to go through with it. He said, “Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
that I...must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words” (1314). He also
expresses some doubt that the ghost was telling the truth. He said, “The spirit
that I have seen May be the devil: and the .....
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