The Merchant Of Venice
.... He may now marry Portia. Because Antonio hasn't paid back the 3000
ducats he had lend from Shylock, Shylock may have one pound of his fair flesh.
Shylock takes it to court...
Act 4
Still in the court of law, Portia and Nerissa have disguised themselves as
doctor and clerk. Shylock wants his revenge on the Christians because they
treat him like a dog and spit on him. He wants his bond and the one pound of
the flesh of Antonio. Portia very smartly knows how to trick him by saying that
it doesn't say in the bond that any blood can be spilt and that he has to take
exactly one pound of the flesh. No more and no le .....
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Macbeth: Not All Men Are Heroic
.... 4:ln.55)
When Lady Macbeth heard of her husband's success and read the letter, we
almost immediately feel that a new source of power had appared in the drama. Her
words reflected a great knowledge of her husband and her practical approach to
problems as seen in the following two verses.
Glacis thou art, and Cowdor, and shalt be
What thou are promised. Yet do I fear thy nature.
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it. What though wouldst highly,
That wouldst though hol .....
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Othello: The Pathological Jealously Of Iago
.... than him. This deep wound commands Iago to revenge.
Iago cannot bear Othello's being a superior figure. Iago comments on
Othello's going to war as "Another of his fathom they have none/ To lead their
business." (lines 153-154) Iago insults Othello's skin color profusely behind
his back. As the first part of his plan, Iago seeks to arouse Brabantio to the
fact that the Moor has "robbed" (line 88) him of his daughter. Iago refers to
Othello as an "old black ram/ tupping your white ewe." This tasteless reference
pictures Othello's ugly black skin with Desdemona's beautiful white skin. Iago
convinces Brabantio that he must rescue .....
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The Problem In Macbeth
.... concept of Good.
The Good, we might add, is not only the instantaneous need for
satisfaction - in a matter of time it will often turn out to be an evil - but it
is in fact the absolute purpose for any human being (the highest Good), and it
isn't just common for everyone, but, when you strive for it, you include the
others in a true community.
But that means that the Good isn't just a subjective phenomenon; it is
objective, and in a philosophical analysis you begin to see a picture of a
hierarchical construction of still higher goods, from the simple ones you can
strive for in everyday life to the eternal salvation that can only .....
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A Midsummer Night's Dream: Resolution
.... Demetrius is still seeking Hermia with no hope of success and Lysander
is trapped in the daze of love for a woman that is not his true love. It is
with this feeling of utter helplessness that Shakespeare ends act II.
Although this is one of Shakespeare's comedies, an interesting way to
resolve the story would be to take the traditional tragic approach: everyone
dies. Hermia, caught between her father's wish that she marry Demetrius and her
strong love for Lysander, surely will be driven to madness by the loss of
Lysander's love. A loss so great will have no other effect than to drive Hermia
to suicide when she confronts Lysa .....
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The Rise And Fall Of Lady Macbeth
.... and emotionally in
negative ways. In the above quote, Lady Macbeth is commenting on her husband's
lack of gall, stating, that quite frankly, she would make a better man than
he.
Although still a very strong woman, we see the first signs of weakness
in Lady's Macbeth's character in Act II, Scene ii, 12-13. She says, “Had he
not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done it.” She is giving an excuse
for not killing Duncan herself. As you can plainly see, this is not the same
Lady Macbeth that would bash a baby's brains in in the beginning of the play.
Throughout the play, Macbeth's character grows stronger as La .....
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The Role Of Prejudice In The Merchant Of Venice
.... from three caskets -- one gold, one silver and one lead.Bassanio
correctly selects the lead casket that contains Portia's picture.The couple's
joy is short-lived, however, when Bassanio receives a letter from Antonio,
informing him of the loss of his ships and of Shylock's determination to carry
out the terms of the loan.Bassanio and Portia marry, as do his friend, Gratiano
and Portia's maid, Nerissa.
The men return to Venice, but are unable to assist Antonio in court.In
desperation, Portia disguises herself as a lawyer and arrives in Venice with her
clerk (Nerissa) to argue the case.She reminds Shylock that he can only col .....
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Use Of Contrasts In Act I Of The Tempest
.... to be hanged.
Thus implying that no one on the ship would drown. This gesture by Gonzalo
showed that he was an optimistic person. On the other hand, after landing on
the island in Act I, scene ii, Ferdinand grew worry of his father and
immediately presumed he was dead. He even went as far as saying that he was now
the new King of Naples (Shakespeare 45). Therefore, one can see that Ferdinand
did not have a positive outlook and wasn't as optimistic as Gonzalo. From the
contrasts between Ariel - Caliban, and Gonzalo - Ferdinand, one develops a
character profile of the four and starts to recognize some ideas that
Shakespeare w .....
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The Tempest. An Imperialist Heaven Or Hell?
.... began to force them
upon these two savages, Sycorax and Caliban. He believed that his new ideas were
better, such as slavery opposed to freedom, which he imposed on Caliban.
“Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban,
Whom now I keep in my service.”
(Act. I, Sc. II, Ln. 285,6)
This view of whose ideas were better is an obvious matter of opinion, one of
the biggest drawbacks to transforming old ideas into new.
Prospero was the first male that Caliban had seen in his life. As a “
lower being” Caliban worshipped and praised Prospero, as the quote below shows,
until Prospero began to mistreat him.
.....
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The Tempest: Comparing The Cultures In The Tempest And Ours
.... show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle,...
For I am all the subjects you have, which first was mine own king."(I,ii,334-
354). We see he is treated as a lesser being because he is not of the same race
as Prospero and Miranda. Prospero describes him as "A freckled whelp hag-born -
not honour'd with a human shape."(I,ii,282-283) Clearly, the people of different
races were treated as inferior human beings in Shakespeare's time. In this
culture, because someone is different, they are less of a human than you.
Financial status also plays a major role in social classifications.
During the time of The Tempest, Dukes and Earls, who .....
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The Tragedy Of Hamlet
.... not dishearten you a
little. And in Hamlets case it pretty much drove him insane.
The human spirit is a very fragile thing, and something as tragic as the death
of a loved one can damage it greatly. As in Hamlets case, when his father was
murdered, this started a sort of devastating chain reaction of the psyche. He
started to "go nuts", and it showed. The people around him started noticing this
drastic change in his personality. But his insanity was most evident during the
play which he set up and called "The Mousetrap". Hamlet sat fidgeting in his
chair, staring at Caudius with accusing eyes. When his little trap had run it's
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The Winter's Tale: The Tragedy Within A Romance
.... then has his wife taken off to jail.
The third act is where we see the first contest, or agon. This takes place when
Paulina brings the baby daughter from jail and presents it to Leontes. The two
battle back and forth, attempting to prove themselves. The fourth act is the
main agon, or the place at which we are at the peak of competition. Hermione
stands before the king and the lords and she denies infidelity. However, no
matter how convincing she is, Leontes' mind is set as to her actions in the past.
The fifth act is the resolution, and this is when the oracle is read. Leontes
realizes his jealousy and his errors, and is .....
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