How does Shakespeare in Act One create an atmosphere of uncertainty & duplicity
How does Shakespeare in Act One create an atmosphere of uncertainty & duplicity? "Tush! Never tell me...thou, Iago, who hast had my purse/ As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this." Ingeniously Shakespeare captivates the audience's attention immediately. The audience are propelled into a conversation exposing one man's disbelief regarding news he has received, that is yet to be divulged to the audience. Tension is aroused from the very start, stimulating an atmosphere of uncertainty, spawning a hungry desire for the audience to uncover Roderigo's misfortune. Roderigo asserts that Iago has had a free reign with his money, his unsettled manner is directed at Iago. Thus, Shakespeare has contrived the introductory scene to foreshadow Iago's character as a treacherous swindler. Moreover, Roderigo must have had a generous amount of faith in Iago to confide and trust him with his money. It remains ambiguous at the beginning of Act One as to whether or not Iago and Roderigo are close companions or business associates discussing a deal, or a mutual arrangement of some sort involving money. Subsequently, the audience learns of Iago's passionate loathing for a character who is talked about in sarcastic and bitter undertones. Throughout Iago's speech he makes reference to him: 'make me his lieutenant,' 'Off-capped to him,' and 'But
Discuss the role and importance of the first "flashback" scene in Death of a Salesman.
Discuss the role and importance of the first "flashback" scene in Death of a Salesman. This scene is the first in the play which gives us any real insight into the past of Willy, the protagonist of the play. Its purpose is to show the audience of some of where Willy went wrong; we see some of his mistakes through his memories of his own past. We see the way that he treated his sons, and how this relates to what they are like now; we witness the difference between what the impression of himself he gives and the failure he really feels; we discover his affair with the woman, why he had it, and the terrible guilt that overhangs him because of it. This then explains some of the tension and unhappiness that we have seen so far in the play. This, though, only takes us so far; we do not learn the full story, of why he and his son do not now share the bond we see in the flashback scene, and of why he becomes so depressed. He does not want to see the truth - he is not ready to realise where he went wrong. The scene gets more and more dramatic as it gets on. At first, it shows us an idyllic, happy time; Willy is apparently a fantastic success, who is idolized by two loving sons. The eldest son, Biff, is popular with the others at school and with girls, a great sportsman, and generally "well liked". They all live in a beautiful house, surrounded by fields. But we then find about Biff
Discuss the Role of the Witches in Macbeth
Discuss the Role of the Witches in Macbeth 04/05/10 Introduction The witches are used to make an evil genre to the play. The witches represent chaos, conflict and darkness, which are features of tragedy also the witches are called the 'Wyrd Sister'. They are also witness and agents to Macbeth's downfall, if Macbeth hadn't believe them, he might not have killed Duncan. The witches had supernatural powers like controlling the weather, due to the fact every time the witches are present in the scene there is always thunder or lightening which creates a spooky atmosphere. The 'Wyrd Sisters' can see the future, like when they tell Macbeth that he will be "Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and The king." The play begins with three witches meeting in a 'desolate place'. They agree to gather again when the battle is over and meet Macbeth. They seem to know the future and chant strange words, creating a very spooky atmosphere. Their presence in the first scene creates an evil atmosphere there is thunder and lightening. Shakespeare use pathetic phallacy to enhance the sense of evil, the witches create. Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets like, "hurly and burly". They use rhyming couplets in this giving a rhyming effect. In Act 1 Scene 3, Shakespeare once again presents the witches as 'instrument of darkness' by having them discuss the mischief and evil they have created, which tells the
A View From The Bridge Essay
A View from the Bridge - How does Arthur Miller show tension escalating during Act 1? Tensions exist in families because of arguments and disagreements occurring between parents and their children especially teenagers, about boyfriends and the way they dress, which refers back to Eddie and Catherine Carbone's disagreement in the first scene when Eddie comments on Catharine's skirt. 'A View from the Bridge' was set in the 1950s in an Italian American neighbourhood under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. The area, which the Carbone family lived in, was called 'Red Hook'. It is a poor place where crime, gangsters and the Mafia had been well known in recent history. Tension in the Carbone household is present right from the beginning of the play and the narrator, lawyer and family friend Alfieri warns the audience of a tragic ending in his opening speech. Alfieri also gives us some background information on the Carbone family and it sets a mood to the start of the scene. Alfieri introduces the play, narrates the story in flashback, focussing on key scenes, and then closes the play. Arthur Miller himself says, " I wanted to write a play that had the cleanliness... the clear line of some of the Greek tragedies." Meaning that the audience would be confronted with a situation and that the audience would be told in the beginning what the ending was. The question was not what was
Shylock - Victim or Villain?
Shylock Victim or Villain? By Pritesh Dave 10M The Merchant of Venice is a very racially controversial play. This is because the plays main story is about racism towards Jews. In the days of Shakespeare, many of the people were anti-Semitic. The Jews were just starting to migrate to England and the racism towards them was motivated by their success. The Christians believed that the Jews were "aliens" and they shouldn't be involved in the Christian was of life. Also, the Jews in Britain were extremely successful, some more than the Christians. They were allowed to lend money and charge interest, as it was not forbidden by the Jewish religion like it is for Christianity. During the 16th Century, many plays were written which involved Jews. The Jews played a "stock character". They were normally villains or a comic character. The Christians who would play the Jews in the play would dress up in traditional Jewish costume and would speak in an exaggerated accent. This would instantly indicate that this character was the villain or the comic character. The audience would boo and jeer at this character. At the end of his play this character would be made a fool out of and would lose most or everything important to him/her. For example, the Jew would die, the Jew would lose his daughter or wife, he would have his money and land taken or he would be forced to change religion. They
romeo and juliet coursework
EXPLORE THE WAYS THAT SHAKESPEARE MAKES ACT1 SCENE 5 OF ROMEO AND JULIET DRAMATICALLY EFFECTIVE. Romeo and Juliet is probably one the most famous tragic and romantic plays ever to be written. It is set in Verona, Italy, whose ruler is Prince Escalus. He is the law as well as the judge. His main objective is to stop the ancient feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, the two families of Verona from which Romeo and Juliet come from. We can learn from this that any type of marriage between the two families was very unlikely and so the love between Romeo and Juliet would be a secretive and tragic affair. We also know that there is tragedy in the play from the prologue: "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents' strife." Before Romeo and Juliet meet in Act 1 Scene 5 the audience already has a rough idea about their characters. They know that Romeo is a love struck youth that is bowled over by Rosaline, a young Capulet girl. His youthfulness has been shown to the audience through his state of confusion through love when he is talking about Rosaline to Benvolio, his cousin. Juliet is portrayed to the audience as an obedient young girl who obeys her parents fully and is not prepared to argue. She will do whatever they say as long as
The supernatural in Macbeth
The supernatural in Macbeth The Witches, also known as the Weird Sisters, are part of the supernatural element of the play. Without them, the play would surely not have taken the path that it did for either Macbeth, nor Lady Macbeth would have been driven, by greed and lust for the crown, to the extent of murder and regicide. Although the witches only feature in a few scenes, their presence is essential and they are the characters who drive Macbeth to the position of King and eventually to his death. In the following I will assess the roles that the witch play and decide how important they actually were. Firstly, the appearance of the witches, give us a better idea of their character. They are described as having "choppy fingers, skinny lips and beards." When Banquo meets them, he says "That not look like the inhabitants o'th'Earth and yet are on it?" He says they look imaginary and when they disappear, he describes them as "bubbles of the Earth" Clearly they are going to influence Macbeth's life in a 3.major way. The witches also speak in riddles and paradoxes. They make it purposefully hard to understand the truth about what they mean. Some examples are "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (implying all good is bad and all bad is good) Another example is when a witch says, "When a battle's lost and won" Later on in the story, we realise that nearly everything the witches do
The Supernatural in "Macbeth"
Macbeth Supernatural, no matter if you believe in it or not it still attracts the audience's heart. In the time of William Shakespeare there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural is s recurring aspect in many of Mr. Shakespeare's plays. In "Macbeth", the supernatural is an integral part of the structure of the plot. Not only do witches appear but also a floating dagger transforms into reality. Shakespeare intelligently introduced the elements of the supernatural in Act 1, Scene 3. Shakespeare located his scene in a mysterious marshy, deserted "heath" on a day with "thunder", perfect for paranormal activity. Thunder and lightning was believed to be associated with evil, and when the play was presented in Shakespeare's time, cannonballs would be rolled to create the sound effect. Three characters are introduced; immediately we knew that they are involved with the supernatural because the second witch told the others that she was "killing swine". Witches tried to hide from humans in fear of being burned at stakes, so they had to be in an empty heath to meet Macbeth. Back in the day, witches were blamed for the death of animals. Also, the witches repeated phrases three times. "I'll do, I'll do, I'll do" and instead of any other number of witches, there were three of them. The number three was regarded as a magic number. The
