How is Brutus Presented as a Tragic Hero

How is Brutus Presented as a Tragic Hero | Throughout the tragedies written by William Shakespeare, each contains a tragic hero, a person who possesses heroic qualities but then has a tragic reversal of fortune. This tragic event is often the central element that allows the play to become a tragedy. Tragic heroes also posses something known as a tragic flaw, and it is this flaw which is the main reason the tragic event is brought about. For example in the tragedy of king Lear, the king trusts the wrong people (this is his tragic flaw) and is then tricked and later becomes mad (this is his tragic reversal of fortune) and eventually he dies. It is important however that tragic heroes posses heroic qualities. For example some people say that Julius Caesar is the tragic hero of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, however he lacks any real heroic qualities, and so cannot be considered a hero, let alone a tragic one. One of the important qualities that make Brutus a tragic hero is the fact that he has a tragic flaw. I believe this flaw to be the fact that he is too noble; this leads to naivety and allows him to be deceived by the other characters in the play to his downfall. He is naïve of some of Cassius' true character even though he is his friend. He is also over trusting of Mark Antony which is clearly shown in act 3 scene 1 where he makes the mistake of allowing Antony to make a

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Explore how the writers present choices in Macbeth by William Shakespeare and the Laboratory by Robert Browning.

Explore how writer present choices in Macbeth by William Shakespeare and the Laboratory by Robert Browning. In this essay I will construct an analysis of the two main female protagonists in Macbeth by William Shakespeare and The Labatory by Robert Browning. I will reflect on the choices made by both protagonists and the inevitable consequences of them. Although both texts are written in different forms of literature - Shakespeare's "Macbeth" being in the form of a play and "The Labatory" being in the form of a poem both texts create powerful imagery and through use of language evokes strong perceptions from the audience. We as the audience are given the impression that both women are ambitious and powerful as they both successfully choose to manipulate men to make their aspirations a reality - Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband, this is portrayed malevolently when Macbeth hesitates in the murder of King Duncan and Lady Macbeth -palpably the dominant character in this scene insinuates him as a coward by ridiculing his masculinity and declares "I have given suck and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, had I so sworn as you have done to this." In Macbeths opening soliloquy by interpreting its textual content "Firstly as I am his kinsman and his subject,

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How does Shakespeare use dramatic devices in act 3 scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet

How does Shakespeare use dramatic devices in act 3 scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet in order to make it such an interesting, exciting and important scene? Romeo and Juliet the story of a young couple who are so very much in love however their families are feuding over at an ancient grudge. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall deeply in love at an early age but their lives are short lived as they die tragically. Tragedy is defined as "a play or dramatic form of a play, or the dramatic form it represents, in which the leading character suffers intense conflicts and a wretched fate, often because of some weakness." Romeo and Juliet fits into the tragedy genre because at the climax of the play the two main characters die unnecessarily. Up until act 3 scene 1 Romeo and Juliet is passionate and romantic play. In Act 3 scene 1 the complete opposite as both of the main characters suffer from the weakness of their families. This occurs when Tybalt Capulet tries to kill Romeo. This shows the tension between the two feuding families and how passionately loyal the family members are. After Tybalt is killed lady Capulet says "for blood of ours, shed blood of Montague." This hints at the continuing theme of tragedy throughout the play. This is also a use of dramatic irony because at the end of the play Romeo and Juliet die and they are from both families. The Capulets and the Montague's

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Explore Shakespeare's presentation of jealousy in 'Othello'

Explore Shakespeare's presentation of jealousy in 'Othello' Shakespeare uses jealousy as a central theme throughout the play, without this aggressive and destructive emotion, there would be no solid plot. Shakespeare demonstrates how terrifying jealousy can be and that its has perhaps unnatural qualities. Shakespeare often refers to jealousy as a devouring emotion, "O beware, my lord of jealousy! It is the green eyed monster which doth mock, The meat it feeds on." Shakespeare uses this to give the emotion a sense of being devoured or devouring. This fits in extremely well with Iago's description of Othello as being "eaten up with passion." This suggests exactly how strong Othello's monumental jealousy really is, once Othello becomes convinced that his wife is unfaithful Iago continues to feed his jealousy which causes Othello to indeed behave like a monster. However, its dramatic irony that Iago says this to Othello. The audience knows that Iago is perhaps the one "eaten up," with jealousy and Othello is none the wiser to this. However unlike Othello, Iago has a different forms of jealousy he holds; the form of personal and professional jealousy. This is linked to a feeling of envy which sets the play in motion. Iago says that hatred and jealousy "gnaw at his inwards" like poison, however his ultimate aim is to poison Cassio and Othello and make them suffer as he is.

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How does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth to kill the King?

Fiona Harris How does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth to kill the King? Lady Macbeth is very determined to become Queen after she reads the letter from Macbeth about the meeting with the witches. She thinks that it is meant to be that he will become King "shalt be what thou art promised". He knows that if he wants to become great and become King of Scotland he will have to kill the current King Duncan. Lady Macbeth knows her husband too well and knows that he will not kill the king. He's "too full o' the milk of human kindness". This metaphor means he's too kind to kill the king just so he can become king himself however much he wants the throne himself. When the messenger arrives and tells her that Duncan is coming to stay the night she says " thou'rt mad to say it" meaning this is all too good to be true and all she has to do is get Macbeth to kill the Duncan and he will be King. All Lady Macbeth has to do is come up with the plan and get Macbeth to carry it out. Lady Macbeth talks to Macbeth when he arrives at the castle and tells him of the plan to kill the King. She says "look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't. This metaphor creates an image that means welcome Duncan into the castle and be all welcoming on the outside but underneath be evil, think you are going to kill him. Macbeth is not sure about this and say's "we will speak further". Lady

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How does Shakespeare convey strong emotion in act 1 scene 5

How does Shakespeare convey strong emotion in Act 1 scene 5? When Romeo sees Juliet he speaks about her, using metaphor: "She doth teach the torches to burn bright!" This suggests that Juliet's beauty is almost incandescent - electrifyingly beautiful. Shakespeare also includes alliteration within the phrase - "teach the torches"; this increases the pace to convey an increasing sense of excitement from Romeo as he remains entranced by Juliet. This emphasised by the exclamation mark. Shakespeare then personifies the sky as he compares Juliet's beauty to a star that "hangs upon the cheek of night". By using personification, the reader can understand the trance that encapsulated Romeo. Shakespeare continually makes reference to the contrast between light and dark as typically in the 16th Century, one's beauty correlated with the fairness of one's complexion. He also says the she is 'Like a rich Jewel in an Ethiop's ear'. This shows how Juliet stands out compared with all of the other girls including Rosaline. By using this simile, Shakespeare introduces an aspect of preciousness to love; the jewel to a poor African would be very treasurable and if he's not careful then the jewel or Juliet could be taken away from him i.e. by Paris. Shakespeare purposefully makes references to the physical attributes of Juliet that attract Romeo as it conveys a youthful and very physical love

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How might a Jacobean audience see certain events in MACBETH differently to a modern one?

How might a Jacobean audience see certain events in MACBETH differently to a modern one? Four hundred years ago in the time of the Jacobeans, beliefs then were very different from what they are today and this had impacts on the way Jacobean audiences interpreted certain events in Shakespeare's plays. This essay sets out how some events might be interpreted differently in Macbeth. Bad things that happened to people were blamed on the supernatural like curses, witches and ghosts e.t.c. First of all was the whole idea of witches. For everything bad that happened to people, witches were blamed for them. Witches were seen as real people who had magical powers and could do almost anything. In Macbeth the witches appear at the very start of the play and accompanying them was thunder and lightning. The Jacobeans see that type of weather to be a bad omen and meant forces of evil or bad things were coming, whereas nice weather meant good things were going on. Today we see bad weather as being caused by scientific reasons; to do with air pressure for example. It has nothing to do with any events happening in the world. In Act 1 scene 2, the witches go on to create a massive thunderstorm. A Jacobean audience would believe this really happened because they thought witches did actually have the power to do that. Nowadays, a modern audience would see that as simply just made up, because we

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How does Shakespeare show Romeo's mood change in Act 3 Scene 1. You should consider his language, his actions and how you think the role should be acted.

How does Shakespeare show Romeo's mood change in Act 3 Scene 1. You should consider his language, his actions and how you think the role should be acted. In this Essay I shall be talking about this very important part in the play, Act 3 Scene 1. This part in the play show's a how Romeo's mood changes from being happy, to being devastated in a very short time. My aim is to explain why Act 3 Scene 1 is such an important part of the play. At the beginning of the play we learn that Romeo was deeply in love with someone called Rosaline. He was very depressed because he wasn't going out with Rosaline, then as soon as he saw Juliet he totally forgot about Rosaline and he got hooked on Juliet. When he first saw Juliet he thought that she was the most beautiful person in the world, He'd never seen such beauty in all his life. "O she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night..." Romeo used a metaphor in this sentence, because Juliet doesn't teach the torches to burn brightly, Romeo is actually saying how is so beautiful she is. When Romeo enters in act 3 scene 1 on line 49, he would come onto the stage quickly, almost skipping because he is so happy, he is so happy because he has just married the girl of his dreams, Juliet. We know she is very special to him, because when Romeo saw Juliet he said; "Did my heart love till now? Forswear

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An Exploration of the Theme of Love inMuch Ado About Nothing The Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing is considered to be a play about deception

Katy Fullilove An Exploration of the Theme of Love in Much Ado About Nothing The Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing is considered to be a play about deception. However, love in its various forms is intertwined with this and is one of the central themes. Throughout the course of this essay I will explore how Shakespeare has presented the different forms of love to his audience. Shakespeare took his inspiration for the main love theme of the play from many sources. The basic story is an ancient one; a lover from the couple is betrayed by an enemy into believing that his loved one is false. In Much Ado About Nothing, these two lovers are represented by Claudio and Hero, and the love which Shakespeare presents between them is meant to be romantic love or love at first sight; in my opinion, this is simply lust. There is no evidence in the play to suggest that Claudio's motivation for marriage is actually real love, the love of Hero's personality. He 'loves' her for what she is, not who she is; she fits Elizabethan society's ideal of the perfect woman. Claudio describes her as 'modest' (Act one, Scene one, line 147), meaning chaste, an essential quality of an unmarried woman in the Elizabethan era, and in lines 167-168 of Act one, Scene one says: '...she is the sweetest lady that ever / I looked on.' He makes no comment on her character, but this would have been seen as

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Although centuries old Romeo and Juliet is still relevant today. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Although centuries old Romeo and Juliet is still relevant today. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? I strongly agree with this statement the reason being, the story of Romeo and Juliet shows arange of emotions and issues that people from any age, gender or background are able to relate to. This is one of many reasons why the story is such a big success in today's culture. Shakespeare's story is focused on the two young lovers that can't be together and all the anguish that surrounds them, this is true as it follows on in to day's society. At the beginning of the play Shakespeare lets the audience have an insight to what the play may be about, he does that in such a way through the prologue which is featured in the beginning of the play. "From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean" this quote shows how Shakespeare intrigues the audience interest by letting the audience question themselves on What the grudge is about. In every young age people have fallen in love against their parent's wishes. Shakespeare has shown this when Romeo sneaks his way into Capulet party, his great enemy, once there he set his eyes upon on Juliet and says ("Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night") and he fall's head over heels for her as she does for him, once Romeo and Juliet found out about

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