Compare and contrast the ways in which the writers of The Tempest and Translations have dramatically presented the links between language and power
A2 English Literature Holiday Homework Assignment: for Mr Majewski: The Tempest by William Shakespeare and Translations by Brian Friel "Compare and contrast the ways in which the writers of The Tempest and Translations have dramatically presented the links between language and power." The modern linguist Norman Fairclough said, "Language is power", implying that if you want to control a person or people, an event or series of events, or indeed the entire world, and have power over it or them, you must first control language. Controlling language is the key to both the initial act of gaining power, and then maintaining that power. We find examples of this throughout The Tempest and Translations, which share common themes and elements. To tackle a question which requires suggesting how the writers link language and power, it is necessary to look at the plays in just such a thematic way. The first and most obvious area in The Tempest where language is linked with power is the way in which prose and verse is used by different characters to different effect. Most notably, and especially for it's irony, Caliban's use of verse when Stephano and Trinculo talk in prose reverts the old ideas of rank, whereby people of higher status, (here supposedly the King's butler and the jester) spoke in verse, and lower classes (the uncivilised Caliban) spoke in prose. Style shift refers to
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT THE WHITE DEVIL IS BLOODY AND FULL OF HORROR. IS THE WHITE DEVIL ANYTHING MORE THAN A HORROR STORY?
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT 'THE WHITE DEVIL' IS 'BLOODY AND FULL OF HORROR'. IS 'THE WHITE DEVIL' ANYTHING MORE THAN A HORROR STORY? When considering the above statement, it must be acknowledged that 'The White Devil' does indeed contain many instances of graphic violence, which serve to shock the audience. However, to assume that this means that the play is nothing more than a 'horror story', that Webster's incorporation of bloody horror constitutes nothing more than sensationalist shock, would be reductionist. The play provides a dramatic insight into the corruption of the social elites and of the Catholic Church, with both the physical violence and violent imagery therein contributing to this overarching theme rather than standing alone as a kind of exercise in mindless bloody horror, as the view in the title would seem to suggest. Despite the shortcomings of the given view, the quote it is derived from is fairly valid; there is no escaping the fact that 'The White Devil' is "bloody and full of horror". Indeed, the quote appears to have come from the lips of Gasparo, a minor character in the play, who states that Lodovico has "acted certain murders here in Rome, bloody and full of horror" in the opening scene of the play. From the offset, then, Webster leaves no doubt that the goings-on in the play are bloody and horrible. However, the fact that the audience learns of
The ways in which Shakespeare portrays the themes of love in Twelfth Night
The ways in which Shakespeare portrays the themes of love in Twelfth Night Twelfth Night is a comedy set in 'Illyria,' a Mediterranean country. However, amongst the well-timed comical scenes, Shakespeare has other emotional predicaments intertwined with a variety of characters. Such predicaments are due to misleading identities and different love themes throughout the play; including love between grieving siblings, and the counts and countess' of Illyria. The main plot of the Twelfth Night revolves round the three main characters, Viola, Orsino and Olivia who speak in rhyming couplets. Each of the main characters form a 'love triangle' which expresses the main love themes in the play including Elizabethan courtly love, real selfless love and overwhelming love. The love between each character that form the love triangle is such that the love and affection is directed one way around the triangle; Viola loves Orsino who believes he loves Olivia who also impetuously believes she loves Viola. Outside the love triangle are the minor characters who speak in pros and show a further variety of different love themes but expressed in a light-heartened manner. These include self love and love based on a mutual agreement. All the characters in the play are all connected through different love themes. Orsino's love for Olivia is also known as 'Elizabethan courtly love' familiar to
A street car named desire - How do the play's settings contribute to its dramatic effect?
How do the play's settings contribute to its dramatic effect? You might like to consider; * The Kowalski's flat * It's surroundings * The wider American Context The play and its author beg the question; how does the absolute appearance of surroundings affect an audience's compassion to the drama that the play perceptibly emits? The play unquestionably needs dramatic effects to capitalise the story and also to induce and consume an audience. If, without the use of incarcerating dramatic effects from the surroundings and manipulating them into supplying the story's tension, then it would ultimately not receive the same desirable reaction that is needed to illuminate the play. The depicted ideas of the eminent and radiating title tempts the audience with certain evocative ideas, but are ultimately confronted with a whole new concept of a darker and more dramatic story line. The audience can automatically sense this with the contrast of the title with the melancholy and hoary surroundings of the old corner building, emancipating an 'atmosphere of decay', betrayal, self embrace, ugliness and death. This contrast creates a poignant conflict between ideal standards the audience had prepared themselves to see. Whilst the synchronisation between ethnic groups and the humbling sounds of the "blue piano" are heard in the opening scene, these merely act as a façade for the
HAMLET: The Assignment
Tan Wei Jie Joel (31) 3.11 HAMLET: The Assignment TNT Britain's Theatrical version and Ethan Hawke's movie version of the play 'Hamlet' were vastly different in virtually all aspects. From the portrayal of characters in performances, the sets, paraphernalia and especially the fact that one is based in our modern world, (New York, 2000) both differ to large extents. Hamlet in the TNT's version does not dwell on about his Father's death in contrast to the Hamlet played by Ethan Hawke, who is constantly watching videos to reminisce about times he had with his Father. The two actors portray Hamlet, the main character, in a different way. In the play version, he is very vocal and blunt. Hamlet's interaction with the ghost however, is more dramatic in the theater version, with ear-splitting shrieks and squeals. This reflected the influence of the supernatural and unworldly during Shakespeare's time in the Renaissance Period. The movie version had a very different influence on me compared to TNT's play version. For example, in TNT's version, Hamlet is a Prince with zero influence; however, he illustrated as a photographer who instantaneously shows his peripheral nature towards the King. A great deal of the sound effects used was very apt and imaginative in TNT's play. The ghost in TNT's play was interesting and original. I feel, in general, that TNT's version was easier to
What do you think is the importance of Shakespeare(TM)s presentation of the theme revenge in Hamlet for the audiences then and now?
What do you think is the importance of Shakespeare's presentation of the theme revenge in Hamlet for the audiences then and now? Well, we can begin by acknowledging that Hamlet is a revenge play. It is also important to consider the audience today and how they felt about revenge. The story is based upon the need to revenge a murder in the family. In a typical revenge plot, there are no authorities to appeal to, either because the original criminal is too powerful (e.g., has become King) or those in a position to act don't know about or believe in the criminality of the original villain. Hence, the central character has to act on his own, if any justice is to occur. However, although it seems like Hamlet follows the traditional revenge plot at first after a short period of time the audience will realise that there is something that differentiates Hamlet from other conventional Elizabethan plays of the same plot and theme. Today's audience may understand why Hamlet is resulting to revenge but may not consider it to be the right thing to do. The Elizabethan audience who would have first paid to view this play would have been very used to the format of revenge plays; they were exceedingly popular during the 16th and early 17th centuries. There were also two views in the time of Shakespeare. One view is the protestant and the other is catholic view. Today's audience would think
Othello is a play of violent contrasts.
'Othello is a play of violent contrasts, of language, character and mood.' Discuss the presentation of these issues in relation to the opening act of Othello. Knight comments that 'in Othello we are faced with the vividly particular rather than the vague and universal1.' Here, he immediately sets up Othello as being a play that, instead of focusing on a broad and more general level, all of the various themes and motifs that it contains converge on this 'particular' focal point - a centre that, particularly in the initial act, breathes with so much literal and symbolic contrast that not only exists between characters, their language and mood, but too within every character, within the mood that the playwright paints. Right from the onset, Shakespeare creates opposition between the characters; he creates such 'unkind' emotion. Roderigo fears that his 'purse' has been taken by Iago, 'as if the strings were thine' - Iago's role as a manipulator, an overriding force whom himself claims to be 'not what' he is, enforcing this concept of negativity, of disillusionment at the heart of the play that, in turn, forebodes the dramatic conflict that is to tear its way into the lives of all. Iago declares that 'our bodies are gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners,' powerfully embodying this emblematic representation of him being a 'gardener', one who is in charge of his own fate,
'Macbeth is full of highly dramatic scenes. Choose two scenes and explore how Shakespeare creates dramatic effects through his dialogue, setting, character and plot development.
English coursework MACBETH. Hayley Pearcy 11Gio 'Macbeth is full of highly dramatic scenes. Choose two scenes and explore how Shakespeare creates dramatic effects through his dialogue, setting, character and plot development. I have chosen the two scenes, Act 1 scene 3 and Act 3 scene 4 to demonstrate how dramatic effects are used by Shakespeare, as I believe these scenes are the most dramatic and versatile for theatre production as they can be interpreted in spectacular ways. They are also focal scenes of the play. When William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, in the early 17th century, England was under the reign of King James ?. This had a great effect on the content of the play. Shakespeare used certain elements that King James would have approved of such as the divine right of kings and the supernatural. These are just a few. So Macbeth has been particularly influenced by its era. During my research into the play I watched one film version produced by Roman Polanski and also a Harrogate Theatre production of the play. In Act 1 scene 3, Macbeth and Banquo are returning from battle. The weird sisters have congregated on a heath near Forres in wait of them. This is where they planned to meet earlier in the first scene of the play. Upon meeting, the witch's make prophesies as to the futures of both Macbeth and Banquo. Both characters
How important is the character Alfieri in the play "A View from the Bridge"? Consider his role in the action and how miller uses him as a dramatic device.
How important is the character Alfieri in the play "A View from the Bridge"? Consider his role in the action and how miller uses him as a dramatic device. In the play "A View from the Bridge" the character Alfieri has two important roles, the narrator and the character. As a narrator he gives us information on what will happen and what has happened in Red Hook and the lives of its occupiers. The idea of the narrator originated from the Greeks, and Alfieri refers to the Greek in his conversation with us "...since the Greeks were beaten." As a character he is an advisor to Eddie and later Marco. He acts like a prologue and an epilogue to the play, creating suspense. Alfieri plays an important role as a narrator; he introduces the theme of justice. In the beginning, for example, Alfieri tells us, to meet a lawyer on the streets of Red Hook is unlucky an that "In Sicily, from where their farthers came, the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten." This tells us that the people of Red Hook do not abide by the law. This could be because of the way they were brought up, having there own view there own justice, which wasn't as Marco later says "in a book." The theme of law and justice recurs through the play, it is important to the conflict and the tragedy later on because what Eddie done is approved in the law but in the minds of the people it is not, and
Nurse's Role
Adarsha Karki 3/4/05 English Pd.4 Nurse's Role Romeo and Juliet a play by William Shakespeare is one of the most famous and loved romantic stories ever. It is a story about two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, whose love was never meant to be. Readers disagree about the characters that are contributors towards the suffering of Romeo and Juliet. One of the most overlooked characters responsible for Romeo and Juliet's suffering is the Nurse. In William Shakespeare's book Romeo and Juliet, The Nurse contributes to the suffering because she acts like a messenger between the two, she keeps their marriage a secret and she advises Juliet to marry Paris, after previously helping her marry Romeo. The Nurse contributes to Romeo and Juliet's suffering because she is a messenger between the two. In Act 2, when the Nurse and Romeo meet in Friar Lawrence's cell and talk about marriage, she tells Romeo," I will tell her, sir, that you do protest. Which, as I take it, is a gentleman like offer." (2.4.174-175). The Nurse is getting the marriage plans from Romeo and tells them to Juliet. If she never acted as their messenger, the two would not have any communication and would not have been able to discuss their marriage plans. The Nurse acting like a messenger, contributed to Romeo and Juliet's death. Another reason the Nurse contributes to Romeo and Juliet's suffering is by keeping Romeo and
