Hamlet Film and Play Comparison. Zeffirelli made some changes in Hamlet that do not take away from the overall meaning of the story, but rather, they change the viewers perception of Hamlet.

Jennifer Qing Mr. Atchison English B30 October 14, 2011 Hamlet Film and Play Comparison Any movie based on a well-known piece of written work will inevitably be critiqued and compared to the original story, and Zeffirelli's version of Shakespeare's Hamlet is no exception. Viewers who have read the play will scrutinize the director's interpretation of the film and judge whether the changes made in the movie do the play justice. For the sake of film aspects and duration of the movie, Zeffirelli made some changes in Hamlet that do not take away from the overall meaning of the story, but rather, they change the viewers' perception of Hamlet. The movie dismisses Hamlet's procrastination in another aspect as well; Hamlet's soliloquy about Hecuba is cut out. In this soliloquy, Hamlet compares his own lack of action to the actor's emotional speech: "What would he do, had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? He would drown the stage with tears... Yet I, ... unpregnant of my cause, can say nothing" (2.2.557-565). Hamlet even goes as far as to call himself "a scullion" (2.2.585), which could not be more untrue considering Hamlet's position as the prince. Not only does Hamlet realize his own pettiness, his soliloquy also serves to make the viewers aware of the fact that Hamlet is "pigeon-liver'd and lack[s] gall" (2.2.574). In the play, Hamlet's character is both

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Iago is fascinating for his most terrible characteristic: his utter lack of convincing motivation for his actions.

Iago is fascinating for his most terrible characteristic: his utter lack of convincing motivation for his actions. Iago's motivation is nothing more than jealously, self-absorption and hatred, yet his tact is presented in a decidedly and socially acceptable fashion, that is, until his true self is uncovered. In being so wrapped up in himself, Iago's vengeful attitude knows no bounds. His motivation becomes first known to us in the first scene of the play, in which he claims to be angry at Othello for having passed him over for the position of lieutenant. At the end of Act I, scene iii, Iago states that he thinks Othello may have slept with his wife, Emilia: "It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office". However none of these claims seems to adequately explain Iago's most deep hatred of Othello, and Iago's lack of convincing motivation or his inability or unwillingness to express his true motivation-makes his actions all the more terrifying and sinister. He is willing to take revenge on anyone, Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Roderigo, even Emilia, at the slightest provocation and he enjoys damage that he causes. Iago's true power lays in his great talent for understanding and manipulating the desires and insecurities of those around him. Thus making him both a powerful and compelling figure. He seems to be the puppeteer of all the other characters in the

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From the study of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is shylock presented as a villain or victim? To what extent will this view have changed from that of the original audience?

From the study of 'The Merchant of Venice' is shylock presented as a villain or victim? To what extent will this view have changed from that of the original audience? The play is set in the late 15th century and is mainly about the character of shylock a money lending Jew; he is trying to live a simplistic life as a simplistic character in Venice a country that would have despised and alienated Jewish people. Christians very much believed in their religion/faith and would have disliked any Jewish person. Therefore the original audience would have hated shylock because of his religious beliefs and his job of money lending, as Christians wouldn't have been able to this job, as it would disagree with their belief. Shakespeare captured the way Jews were portrayed in this play well and managed to display it in a certain way, which wouldn't offend, but captured both sympathy and understanding from the audience at the time. Shakespeare play would be looked at in a very different way in a modern performance as the audience wouldn't discriminate towards Jews/ shylock as Christians are taught differently to when the play was originally written and children would have learnt about different religions and cultures and could cope with a Jewish character. Shylock's first appearance in the play is in act 1 scene 3 and his first line is; " Three thousand ducats", this could be taken by

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Romeo's letter to his father - Romeo and Juliet.

Dear Father, As you read my last words to yourself I am lying dead not because of a sword wound but because of a broken heart. Confusion and puzzle must be swarming through your head like a beehive but as you come to the last word of this letter you should hopefully understand and forgive me. I received an invitation that invited me to my only foes mansion but I met my only true love there. Rosaline was the one that I thought had my heart but my thoughts were deceived and my eyes saw the truth. As I gazed through my mask I saw her. I asked myself 'Did my heart love till now?' only about a quarter of an hour later I knew the answer to this question. I asked for a kiss and was denied at first. When going to kiss I said thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged. Our lips touched and my heart throbbed I pleaded 'Give me my sin again.' As I requested she did. A women interrupted our moment and told Juliet that her 'mother craves a word' with her. 'What is her mother?' I asked with curiosity and the answer that I got was like a sharp pain through my heart. A Capulet I asked myself how can this be? 'my life is my foe's debt' A Capulet or not I had to go and see my lady again and see I did. She appeared at her balcony. She gazed into the star night as I looked into her eyes 'Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,' I fell more in love. She spoke 'Ay me!' I muttered to

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Appearances and assumptions in Shakespeare's Othello

Appearances and assumptions in Shakespeare's Othello Brian Lockyer In Othello, William Shakespeare focuses a lot on the theme of appearance versus reality. Othello, along with other characters in the play, depend on their eyes, and with that they jump to big assumptions. There are many times in the play where there is concealed uncertainty, meaning the character assumes that what their eyes tell them is everything, hence, Looks can be very deceiving. Iago's reputation plays a very key role in the play. Everyone assumes Iago is an honest man. "O, that's an honest fellow ", "You advise me well ........ Goodnight honest Iago ""that's an honest fellow ""I know thou'rt full of love and honesty ". Iago has everyone fooled into believing that he is a dignified honest man. Without this reputation of being honest he could never get Othello to believe that Desdemona was cheating on him. Othello would have probably killed him if he didn't have the reputation of being an honest man. Iago knew that a significant man like Othello could not have ignored the prospect that his wife was cheating on him. Nobody suspects that Iago is a deceitful man and that he would scheme and plan to destroy the characters of Othello, Cassio and Desdemona in such a cunning and cruel way. Iago uses his reputation, as well as the insecurities of Othello, to allow him to manipulate and

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Explore the relationships between Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing

Explore the relationships between Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing Throughout the entire play of 'Much Ado About Nothing', Beatrice and Benedick are the main characters of the play, although the story centres upon the characters of Hero and Claudio. This is because Beatrice and Benedick are both extremely vibrant and although they are different in many ways, both in fact share similarities. They also seem to be the most modern characters of the play because neither of them to begin with like the idea of marriage. In the time of Shakespeare this would be an extremely unusual attitude, especially for a woman. Both demonstrate similar attitudes towards each other throughout the play, which fluctuates between love or hate. They are also characters who speak for them selves and have an opinion about everything, especially Beatrice In the first scene, Beatrice talks to a messenger and her uncle. Shakespeare makes it instantly seems as if she and Benedick do not to get along, when she calls him "Signor Mountanto", which is very rude and suggests that he has a 'big-head'. Even though she refers to Benedick in a negative manner, it is interesting that she mentions him before she mentions anyone else. Shakespeare portrays this interest in a fairly covert way; yet she obviously cares about him a way, by asking if he has returned from war. Yet, she does so in such a

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Who Was Responsible For the Deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF ROMEO AND JULIET? This piece of coursework is focusing on the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and who was responsible for it. The people who had a part in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are Friar Lawrence, Benvolio, Tybalt, Capulet and Nurse. The first person I will be focusing on will be Friar Lawrence, looking at his part in the suicides of both the lovers, what he did to put them under pressure and the things that he shouldn't of done which may have let to the death. The main reason Friar Lawrence had a part in the suicides of Romeo and Juliet was because he got involved when he knew the consequences wouldn't be good. It was Friar Lawrence who married Romeo and Juliet; he had the plan to use the sleeping potion so that Juliet could run off with Romeo while the grieving Capulets believed she was dead, and he tried to send a letter to Romeo informing him of the plan, which didn't reach him. By marrying the lovers, he took a step in the wrong direction, he only thought of how the consequences would be good, by marrying Romeo and Juliet; he thought that that could bring the two feuding families together so they could make up and be friends he was quoted as saying " For this alliance may so happy prove, To turn your households' rancour to pure love"(Act 2 Scene 3/4). But he didn't think of what could go wrong. By marrying Romeo and

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All About Iago

Period 2 Othello Character Analysis Essay All About Iago In Shakespeare's Othello, Shakespeare develops Iago's character using events in the play, other character's opinions and Iago's voice. Iago's character seems untrustworthy from the start of the play, although other characters believe him to be honest. Shakespeare builds Iago's character by giving the reader the knowledge of Iago's manipulation and motifs. Many characters in the play believe Iago to be honest. Othello states many times that Iago is honest, for example in Act I Scene 3, Othello says "Honest Iago, / My Desdemona must I leave to thee: / I prithee, let thy wife attend on her". Othello trusts Iago enough to leave his wife to Emilia, who he only knows through Iago. Cassio even thinks Iago to be honest. He says "Good night, honest Iago" (2.3.335), in his drunken state after proclaiming his love to Iago. Iago is not only considered honest by other characters. He is also perceived as vulgar at times. Brabrantio asks "What profane wretch art thou?" (1.1.113), when Iago makes a sexual comment regarding Desdemona and Othello. Iago says vulgar things and knows exactly how he is perceived. He is manipulative with his words, tricking others into believing what he wants them to believe about him and the other characters. Iago even knows that others see him as an honest man, he knows exactly what he can do with

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Explore Shakespeares presentation of Lady Macbeth and the witches. How might the presentation of female characters in Macbeth appeal to an Elizabethan audience?

Rio Poulton Explore Shakespeare's presentation of Lady Macbeth and the witches. How might the presentation of female characters in 'Macbeth' appeal to an Elizabethan audience? Macbeth is a tragic play written by Shakespeare to entertain King James. As the play is a tragedy the play must have a down fall. There are different themes which are shown through-out the play such as murder, ambition and events that involve supernatural. Supernatural in presented in the play, because in 1606 when it was preformed people of those days believed in a lot of supernatural, witches and ghosts. These themes play a big part in the play. The play involved king James' ancestors but King James didn't not know this as it is based on a true story but Shakespeare changed all the things about the play that would give it away that it involved King James and his family. In act 1 Scene 1 Shakespeare begins with the three witches as it brings the theme of supernatural which people where interested in back then and drags the audience in as they now know that anything could happen. Pathetic fallacy is used to create tension at the start of the play. The thunder and lightening which connects to the witches and this is the sort of pathetic fallacy that you would expect to see if anything like witches are involved as witches are known to be evil and nasty and this means that the weather links with them

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How does Shakespeare use imagery in his play Romeo and Juliet to intensify the drama, create atmosphere and illuminate the central themes?

GCSE Coursework: Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet How does Shakespeare use imagery in his play Romeo and Juliet to intensify the drama, create atmosphere and illuminate the central themes? In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", Shakespeare uses imagery to create atmosphere, intensify drama and illuminate central themes. By using a variety of metaphors, dramatic irony, use of figurative language and his explanation of poetic forms he conveys meaning and character excellently. He incorporates all of these dramatic devices and more to convey the plot and reveal those things that were Elizabethan concerns. Shakespeare starts the play with a prologue. This was very popular in Shakespeare's time and he uses a sonnet to imply love because it was established as a poetic form for love and devotional poetry. It's used to set the scene and describes what is going to happen. It describes Romeo and Juliet as "Star crossed lovers"; this shows the audience the play is going to be about romance but also despair and feuds and not being in control of one's own destiny. The sonnet shows Shakespeare's ability to distil the essence of language and draw the audience into the action. Using the sonnet Shakespeare achieves the 'suspension of disbelief', which shows his class as a writer because it highlights the theatricality of the play, to show the audience that the play is completely fictional.

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