The Role of The Fool in Shakespeare
7/09/2012 11:38 . In many of William Shakespeare’s plays, moments of tragedy and tension are lightened by the interruption of comical characters. These characters are referred to as the “Shakespearean fool”. The reoccurring presence of such personalities captivated the audience of the Elizabethan era as it made them laugh. Shakespeare employed the use of humor as means to avoid a dismal atmosphere. This was most effective when the storyline became too serious, as it provided comic relief. 2. A true Shakespearean fool, of this kind, is often a commoner or a peasant. Some one not belonging to a higher title or an important role in the play. Their characteristics are significantly heightened for theatrical effect. In this sense, it is solely their personality that makes them so amusing. They are oblivious as to how one should behave around others and are guilty of committing social faux pas on several occasions. Abiding to social conventions is not of concern to the fools. This, therefore, makes for a highly humorous situation. 3. Another way in which the Shakespearean fool entertains the audience is through dramatic irony. This is when the audience knows of something but the characters on stage don’t. An example of this is what the fairies in Midsummer Nights Dream do. They manage to trick the characters on stage without them having a clue. They make fools out of the
Analysis of Chopin's use of linguistic features in her literary works.
From the Victorian era, Chopin startled critics with her paradigmatic tale of a woman’s abortive struggle towards independence in an oppressive society. By using women as her protagonist, Chopin highlights their sexist roles in literature whilst restricting them from the expansion necessary to deal with their realisation. It thus seemed conducive to transform the novel into a series of letters in the form of English Sonnets, establishing the undeveloped characterisation of Edna with Robert, whilst they are separated from each other. The transformation aims to elucidate Edna’s role in society, by satirizing the narrow and stereotypical way in which woman are commonly portrayed in literature. The novel as a form does not offer the opportunity for character development in the same way a series of letters/sonnets do. For example, Edna openly declares her love for Robert, at the time of her death: “I’m the person who deserves your love.” The continuous sense of the author’s evaluation of the moral choices that her characters make is lost; they seem more autonomous throughout the sonnets because they speak for themselves without Chopin’s explicit authorial presence. The sonnet form successfully mimics letter writing as both forms are addressed to someone, whilst informing and shedding light on their own thoughts. Moreover, when the two characters reveal their
How do the texts you have studied explore the notions of freedom and responsibility? Both Frankenstein and Bladerunner explore the moral implications of usurping the role of God with unrestrained scientific experimentation.
"With freedom comes responsibility" How do the texts you have studied explore the notions of freedom and responsibility? Both Frankenstein and Bladerunner explore the moral implications of usurping the role of God with unrestrained scientific experimentation. Both texts portray characters with predominately selfish motivation that leaves them blind to the consequences of the result of their irresponsible experimentation. Whilst Shelly centres her text on the thirst for knowledge, Scott focuses on the dangers of technological advancements driven by profit. Scott presents a world in Bladerunner in which science has emerged as a "new religion" with God being replaced by the techno-capitalist. Scott lived in a time of rapid technological growth that was driven by profit. Businesses and multi-national co operations that focused solely on enormous profits as well as developments in genetic engineering gave rise to much consumerism and greed. The character of Dr Tyrell is an embodiment of the large companies' irresponsible obsession with profit. Tyrell displays a scientific hubris, not unlike that of Victor Frankenstein, although Tyrell's actions are fuelled by his profit driven postmodern era. The mise en scene of Tyrell's bedroom reveals much symbolism of Tyrell as a God-like figure through his bedroom and living quarters baring resemblance to a Pope's bedroom or classical
The texts, As You Like It by Shakespeare and Angelas Ashes directed by Alan Parker communicate the notion of identity and its inextricable connection to belonging
“Know thy-self” was the essential truth prescribed by the philosopher Socrates. True belonging can only be attained after one has conquered a strong sense of identity and is able to reach self actualization, allowing oneself to embrace who they are. The texts, As You Like It by Shakespeare and Angela’s Ashes directed by Alan Parker communicate the notion of identity and its inextricable connection to belonging. Belonging to a family is an integral part of the human experience, as family relationships form a person’s sense of identity. The environment in which Frankie McCourt was raised had a fundamental impact upon his outlook on life, and his overall sense of identity. The McCourt’s are a dysfunctional family, as Mr. McCourt’s alcoholism and unemployment present a barrier to positive loving relationships between family members. Constant high angle shots reinforce Frankie’s small size and powerless position as a child witnessing his own family collapse around him which results in Frankie questioning his own values and forces him to become independent form a young age. Throughout his childhood Frankie experiences constant disappointments and humiliations created by an alcoholic and irresponsible father and a weak victimized mother, as a result Frankie soon realizes that it is up to him to ensure his own survival. Belonging to a dysfunctional family shapes
Augustine's Confessions and Petrarch
Confessions is a “must read” for all believers. Written half as an autobiography and half as a prayer, Augustine weaves in and out of dialogue with God. Throughout he sets an example of spiritual formation for all who read. For Augustine, spiritual formation begins with desire. Left to ourselves, desire turns inward on our own pleasure and lust, as Augustine experienced for years. The solution, however, is not to destroy inner desire but to transform it. Created in God’s image, we were made to desire—to reach outside ourselves toward the “other”—both God and other people. When Augustine repented of fleshly desire and focused his pursuit on the Lord, he began a life of radical commitment to Christ. Desire does not cease when we experience salvation. Rather, this is when our relationship with the Lord truly begins. Desire keeps us ever seeking the Lord. Confessions for me was a challenge, but in a helpful way. It made me look at my life to see if there were any idols or things that I am placing in a higher position than God, not necessarily just graven images, but anything that I love more than God. After reading Confessions, I want to have that same mindset that Augustine had and radically follow after Christ. Likewise, Petrarch had an influence while I was reading. The Italian poet and philosopher Petrarch is often called the “father of humanism.” Living
Both Brighton Rock and Clockwork Orange focus mainly around the two criminal characters.
Both Brighton Rock and Clockwork Orange focus mainly around to criminal character’s and both go into in depth breakdowns of the minds of their criminal main characters and use this to encourage readers to become interested and engulfed in the books. Greene and Burgess both use depictions of the criminal minds to interest the readers. One way Greene does this is through narrative methods such as illustrating Pinkie’s thought process during the attempted murder of Spicer and his own eventual attack by Colleoni this gives the reader an detailed look at the thoughts of Pinkie and the criminal mind and this gives the character depth which involves the reader and creates interest in the characters. This is similar to the way Alex breaks down his arrest. Furthermore Greene contrasts the criminal minds between Pinkie and Colleoni’s minds with a clear gap in maturity between the two demonstrated through things such as Colleoni’s superiority regarding money ‘You see the gold on them furnitures? Napoleon stayed here with Eugenie.’ This shows how crime can lead to someone being admirable and almost a hero to Pinkie showing how easily the criminal mind can be influenced and interest’s people by seeing how the criminal mind will develop. Moreover Greene constantly uses foreshadowing to depict the criminal mind. By having Pinkie rub his vitorol bottle shows the paranoia of
The Mayor of Casterbridge and The French Lieutenants Woman both take place during the Victorian Age. In these novels we have an example of two women, Elizabeth-Jane and Ernestina
Part B : Linking The French Lieutenant’s Woman to The Mayor of Casterbridge From your Reading so far, compare and contrast the représentation of Victorian womanhood through the femal characters Ernestina and Elizabeth-Jane. Between 1837 and 1901, during the Victorian era, women had to conduct themselves in a certain way. A wife’s role was to obey, respect and love her husband. Women did not have legal rights, they were not allowed to own property, this made them completely dependant on their father or husband. A woman’s duty was to contribute to her husband’s needs and to raise her children.The Mayor of Casterbridge and The French Lieutenant’s Woman both take place during the Victorian Age. In these novels we have an example of two women, Elizabeth-Jane and Ernestina, who came from two different social backgrounds. Thoughout both novels, we notice differences between the two female characters, Elizabeth-Jane and Ernestina. The most obvious difference is their social rank, Elizabeth-Jane comes from a poor background, she has lived her childhood with practically nothing and had no other choice but to work at a very Young age, like all other women from the working class. On the other hand, Ernestina comes from a wealthy backgroud, she always had what she wanted, she had “ the best education that money could buy“. During this period, girls were not allowed to
Discuss some of the connections which you have been able to make between Engleby and Larkin
Discuss some of the connections which you have been able to make between Engleby and Larkin. Both the character Engleby and the poet Phillip Larkin share many similarities in the way they think and the way they see the world around them, which in general is in a kind of cynical with a touch of a superiority complex. For example, in Toads Larkin writes “Six days of thee week it soils, with its sickening poison – just for paying a few bills! That’s out of proportion” which can be seen as Larkin’s distaste of a standard soul destroying 9 to 5 6 day a week job. On page 48 of Engleby, when the titular character is reminiscing about his dad while he lays on his deathbed, the only thing he can remember of his dad is him coming home from work with his grey envelope and saying “Another week. Make sure you never end up here, Mike” and the paragraph ends with Mike looking on as his dad passes “And I though, I’ll make sure I never end up here, either.” This can be interpreted in two ways; one way is that he does not want to end up in a dead end job working to just make the ends meet until he dies, like his father before him, and another way that it can be seen is that he does not want to end up like his father, dying slowly and painfully. Both Larkin and Engleby show their dislike for a regular mind numbing job, and this is indicative of their characters, both are
Priscilla and Wimps
"Priscilla and the Wimps" The story "Priscilla and the Wimps" deals with bullies. A gang called "the Kobras" made other students in the school pay to get passes to go around the school. But a student named Priscilla didn't know or care about "the Kobras". Monk Klutter, the leader of the gang, used the money he got from selling passes to the students to buy expensive clothes. He wears things like a suede battle jacket with lizard-skin flaps over tailored Levis and a pair of ostrich- skin boots. Priscilla, was another student, was the biggest student in the class not fat but big. She was beautiful in a bionic way. Priscilla was mostly and loner but had only one friend. His name was Melvin Detweiler. Melvin was one of the smallest guys but is really nice. Monk Klutter isn't a loner because he is part of gang, in fact, the gang's leader. Priscilla is also a protagonist while Monk Klutter was the antagonist. Priscilla's relationship with others is that she protects people like when her friend Melvin was being held up buy Klutter's Kobras and she came to rescue him. Monk Klutter's relationship with other is that he attacks people. If you wanted to go around the school, Monk Klutter would take your money and give you a pass to go around the school. Monk Klutter's type of fighting skill was by using deadly force like when he grabbed Melvin and slammed him against the lockers.
Compare and contrast the ways in which the authors of
Contrast and Compare the ways in which the authors of "Survivors" and "The Dead-Beat" portray the horror of war. "Survivors" by Siegfried Sassoon and "The Dead-Beat" by Wilfred Owen have both similarities and differences in their illustrations of violence and horror during the war, despite the fact that Owen's poetry is heavily influenced by Sassoon. To begin with, the very title 'Survivors' hints at a tragedy (which, of course, proves to be WW1), that the subjects have fought through in order to carry on their lives, the actual word 'survivors' could also be interpreted as showing the men as a select few, with others not being so fortunate as to hold out. When delving deeper into the content of the poem, it becomes clear that the soldiers have not come out of this catastrophe unmaimed; "the shock and strained" graphically depicts the state of the soldiers minds, and the alliteration used for this puts even more emphasis on the point. Yet the title of Owens 'The Dead-Beat' gives the impression of a sluggish, hopeless figure, not one of action. This is a paradox in that 'The Dead-Beat' is actually the more graphic of the two poems, as well as being set (?) at a faster pace: it opens with the words "he dropped--", instantly beginning the poem without need for setting or description, composing pictures of dead bodies, of exhausted soldiers, immediately displaying the violence
